Drive By
by xoxoRuflyGirl
Summary: Rufus has finally seen Ivy's true colors, and realized something in the process-lily is his soulmate, and he wants her back. That means getting her back from the wicked Bart Bass of course. It won't be easy, he knows, but he he is determined to win Lily back no matter how long it takes.
1. The Realization

_**Drive By**_

_**Chapter One: The Realization**_

Ivy was out running errands. Rufus was stuck at home with nothing to do. He had just gotten back from the gallery, and everything was taken care of for the night. Ivy said she'd be back by seven thirty for their dinner reservations at eight. It was currently seven, and he was already ready for dinner, giving him a half hour left to do nothing but twiddle his thumbs.

He eyed the trashcan which still held his box of memories with Lily. He hadn't wanted to look at them. It wasn't worth looking back on the past. She had Bart, and he had Ivy now. They had both moved on.

He headed over to the couch to see if there was anything good on TV that he could watch until Ivy arrived back. He found the remote, kicked up his feet on the coffee table, lay back, and clicked on the television.

There were repeats of shows he didn't watch, repeats of shows he did watch but he'd already seen the episodes more times than he cared to see them, and of course pointless, clearly scripted talk shows that discussed paternities, and troubled children who abused their parents when they didn't get their way.

With a sigh, Rufus clicked off the television, and tossed the remote aside. "There's nothing but junk on TV today," he grumbled to himself.

He sighed again, and his eyes once again fell upon the box in the trash. He got up, and slowly made his way over to it. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to look through it. He would look, he decided, but only because he had nothing else to do. Also, curiosity was getting the best of him. He hadn't really looked to see what was inside it before.

So, he took the box out of the trash, sat down on the floor with it in his lap, and took off the lid.

He set the lid aside, and peered in. The first thing he saw was a letter. He picked it up and saw that it was Lily's handwriting. He began to read the letter. He had only meant to read the first line, but couldn't get himself to stop reading until he had read the whole way through. It was written when she had left him to marry Bart.

_I'll always love you. But Bart is whom I belong with. Staying with him is the right thing to do. Bart and I come from the same world. We go together better. You and I are just so different... I know you'll find someone one day who will be yours and only yours. You deserve better than me anyway, Rufus. You deserve someone who will make you happier than you've ever been. Goodbye, My Love. -Lily_

Rufus set the letter aside. Did't she know that she was the only woman who had ever made him truly happy? He hadn't even loved Alison as much as he loved Lily. Claire? She was barely worth mentioning. As for Ivy... Who was he kidding? He knew deep down he didn't love Ivy. Not even a little bit. She was a nice girl, but the truth was, he was just using her. He was dating her to hurt Lily the way Lily had hurt him when she chose Bart over him for the second time.

He set the letter aside to see a stack of photos. He picked up the stack, and searched through them.

The first one was of him hugging Lily from behind. Lily was smiling her beautiful smile that shined like the sun. The next was of them on their wedding day, looking at each other with such love in their eyes. It was as if they only saw each other. The third was of Lily laughing at something he had said, and him grinning like the Cheshire Cat at her. The fourth was of them on Halloween. He was wearing the Joey Ramone wig and all. Lily was rolling her eyes at him as he gave his best Joey Ramone pose. However, the grin on her face gave her away. The fifth and final photo was of them on the couch together. Lily's hair was messed up, and her dress was rumpled. As for him, he had a small red welt on his neck. Rufus remembered how they had been kissing, and he thought she looked so cute with her hair messy and her dress rumpled.

_"That's because of me! I think I made you even sexier," he teased._

_ She had rolled her eyes and grinned. "All you did was rumple my hair and dress. I, for one, left my mark!" She licked the hickey she had left on his neck._

_ Rufus grinned. "We're 'hot messes' as the kids would say. We have to take a picture!"_

_ Lily raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Of us looking a mess? You're a strange one, Rufus."_

_ He nuzzled his nose against hers. "Ah, but you love me anyway."_

_ She smiled, and gently stroked his cheek. "Yes, I love you anyway."_

_ They kissed, then Rufus snapped the picture of them, proudly displaying his hickey._

Rufus sighed. He didn't know what was wrong with him. No matter what Lily had done to him, or whom she had chosen over him, she still made his heart race like there was no tomorrow.

But she was with Bart now, and there was nothing he could do about it. Or was there?

He didn't bother finishing looking through the box. He put the letter and the pictures back in the box, then shut the lid, and stood up, picking up the box as he did so.

He carried the box over to his bedroom, and slid it under the bed to look at later. Right now, he knew Ivy should be arriving at any minute.

He looked at his watch, and was surprised to see it was seven thirty-five. Ivy was late, which surprised him, for Ivy was never late. If anything, she was usually early.

Just then, as if on cue, his cell phone rang. He looked to see who it was. It was Ivy of course. He clicked the answer button, and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Gorgeous!" came Ivy's cherry voice on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry, but I have to cancel our reservations. I ran into a friend who is really upset. Her boyfriend just dumped her, and she really thought he was the one. She's absolutely crushed. I promised her we could get Chinese takeout in, and watch anti-romance movies at her place. I'll probably just spend the night at her place since she lives alone. I don't want her feeling even more lonely."

"It's all right. I understand. I never heard you mention any friends before. Do I know her?" Rufus was surprised. He didn't think Ivy had any friends. She wasn't exactly the most adored girl in the city. At least not by anyone he knew.

"She's a dear friend from school. Her name is Bella, and she is a year older than me. I never talk about her much, because, well, it never comes up! No one ever asks me. Everyone just assumes I don't have any friends. Like you assumed, apparently." There was a playfulness to Ivy's tone, telling Rufus she wasn't angry.

"I didn't say that. I just never heard you mention her before," Rufus said calmly. "Well, anyway, I'll take care of canceling the reservations. You just go be there for your friend."

"Actually, I already cancelled them, so you don't have to," Ivy said quickly. "I'll make it up to you. We can go some place special tomorrow, or I can even cook for you if you'd like."

"You cooking for me? You can cook?" Rufus asked.

"Of course! I even took a few cooking classes a couple years ago," Ivy explained.

"Hm. I never knew that," Rufus said.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Rufus, but I can't wait to show you everything I can do." Her tone had taken on a seductive tone to it.

Rufus moaned. "Mm, I can't wait either. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Ivy said, the seduction still in her voice. "Goodbye, Sexy."

"Goodbye, Gorgeous!" Rufus clicked off the phone. Well, that sucked. Not only for Ivy's friend, but for himself as well. He was hungry, and had been looking forward to trying that restaurant out. He wondered if he could call the restaurant, and get the reservations back. Maybe they hadn't booked anyone else at his and Ivy's table yet. He could invite Dan to go with him, and if not Dan, well, then he'd go by himself. After all, there was no rule saying a person had to go to dinner with someone, and couldn't go alone, was there? No.

He headed over to where he had the restaurant's number written down. He then dialed.

"Hello," he said when they answered. "This is Rufus Humphrey. My girlfriend Ivy just called and cancelled out reservation. She had something come up, but I decided I wanted to use it anyway. Is there any chance I can re-reserve, or do you already have someone in our place?"

"Hold on just a second," the lady on the other line said. Judging from the clicking sounds he was hearing, she was looking it up on the computer. "Hm, it says here the reservations were never cancelled. Are you sure your girlfriend cancelled them?"

"That's what she said. Hm, that's strange. Well, keep them then. I'll still show up even if she doesn't!" Rufus said.

"All right. We'll see you soon then!" the lady on the other line said cheerily.

"See you soon," Rufus agreed before hanging up the phone. He sighed. That was really odd. Ivy had said she had already cancelled them. Did the hostess accidentally cancel someone else's reservation?

He grabbed his keys, slipped on his jacket and shoes, and headed out, intent on heading to the restaurant and finding out what was going on. And, if it had just been a mistake, well, then he'd at least still get to eat there.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

When Rufus arrived at the restaurant, he was about to head in when he saw Ivy heading toward him with some man.

He quickly ducked around the corner of the restaurant, and peered around. His mouth dropped open when he saw Ivy walking toward the restaurant hand-in-hand with William. They were talking about something, and laughing together. They then paused, and kissed passionately. The kiss lasted for a good half a minute before they broke the kiss.

Ivy licked her lips, and smiled at William. She muttered something in William's ear.

William nodded with a look in his eyes that was clearly hungry for more than food. The pair then walked into the restaurant together, hand-in-hand again.

"What the hell?" Rufus muttered. He waited a few minutes, then headed into the restaurant. "Hi," he said to the hostess. "I just have to talk to my girlfriend quickly. She's already seated. Do you mind if I just go in quick and talk to her?"

"Not at all. Will you be dining in as well?" the hostess asked.

"No, she already has a dinner partner, apparently. I'll be back in a few." Rufus then headed to find Ivy's table, not even waiting for the hostess' response.

Ivy and William were holding hands across the table when he found them. They were talking low, their eyes locked on each other's, and smiles planted on each other's faces. Since they were so busy making googly eyes at each other, they didn't even see him until he was right at their table.

He placed his hands on the table top, and loudly cleared his throat. "So, Ivy, let me guess, Bella had a sex change, and then had plastic surgery to make her look just like William, and _then_ got over her ex super quickly so that she could turn gay for you, and start a relationship with you to get over her ex."

Ivy's eyes got big. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally managed to stammer out, "Rufus! What are you doing here?"

Rufus crossed his arms over his chest. "We had reservations. After you lied to me and said you cancelled them, I called the restaurant back to see if I could re-reserve. I wanted to maybe take Dan here and eat here anyway since I was hungry, and was looking forward to eating here. Boy was I surprised when the hostess said you never cancelled. I was even more surprised to see you not at your poor, distressed friend Bella's house, but outside of the restaurant we had dinner reservations for with another man. Kissing him, mind you. Care to explain?"

Ivy looked for a moment like she was going to make up an excuse, then her eyes narrowed, and her expression turned cold. She shrugged. "What can I say, Rufus? You got boring. Seriously, you have no personality. William and I have been hanging out a lot lately, and getting close. You know, when I have supposedly been running all those errands? He's a lot more exciting than you are, and frankly, a whole lot better in bed. To be honest with you, I only ever slept with you to get back at Lily. I mean, what better way to get back at her than by sleeping with the love of her life, right? Because, let's face it, the love of her life certainly isn't Bart, or any of her other many husbands." She glanced at William. "No offense."

William put his hands up. "None taken."

Ivy reached across the table, and squeezed William's hands again. "William and I are in love."

Rufus snorted. "In love? You don't know what love is, Ivy. All you like to do is use people, and take what you can from them before you toss them to the curb. Lily was right about you all along."

Ivy smirked. "Rufus, if you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy a nice dinner with my new boyfriend—alone."

Rufus glanced at William. "You know she's using you too, don't you? Sleeping with another one of Lily's exes just to get back at her? Maybe getting some of your money in the process?"

William shrugged. "Maybe so, but she's hot, she's young, and I'm not complaining. Plus, I get to hurt you in the process. It's a win-win situation." He winked at Rufus.

Rufus laughed bitterly. "That's where you're wrong, William. You're not hurting me. You're _helping_ me." He glanced at Ivy, and nodded at her. "You're helping me by taking this lying, conniving, bitch off my hands." He turned his full attention to Ivy then. "I'll be at the gallery from nine until two tomorrow. Come by my place and pick up your things. I expect to see the key on the counter, and you gone by the time I get home. If you don't leave my place exactly the way it was before you arrived aside from your stuff being gone, or if you're still there when I get back, I will call the cops, and have them arrest you for trespassing. Do I make myself clear?"

Ivy grinned sweetly at him. "Crystal clear."

Rufus nodded. "Have a nice dinner. I hope you two enjoy making each other miserable." He then took off out of the restaurant without even a goodbye to the hostess who had wished him a good night. How he could have been so stupid for letting Ivy fool him, he had no idea. All he knew was that he was never going to let himself be fooled again by _anyone_ let alone Ivy Dickens.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

That night, Rufus lie in bed with a pizza, and his box of Lily memories. Underneath the pictures has been Lily's engagement and wedding rings. She had given them back to him, including the wristband ring he had made for her before buying her a real engagement ring. It made him sad as he held them in his hands. He had remembered how happy she had been the day he had given them to her. Now, she was giving them back, and wearing another man's ring. To top it all off, his marriage to Lily had never even been valid. It didn't matter to him though. You can't just say a wedding never happened when it did. That wedding had meant something to him. He had married the woman of his dreams, and he knew the wedding had meant just as much to Lily has it had to him.

Under the rings were pictures from their wedding. There was a picture of their first kiss as husband and wife. There was a picture of their first dance as husband and wife. There was even a picture of them cutting the wedding cake together.

Finally, there was a picture of them holding each other, still in their wedding attire, and smiling at the camera.

Rufus was instantly taken back to Lily's vows.

_"__And Rufus, I know that our future will be just like us: flawed and fragmented. And full of more love than I ever thought possible. I am so excited for you to be my husband. And for our children—all of them—to be my family."_

That was the rest of what was in the box. Rufus put everything back in the box, closed the lid, then set the box on his nightstand. He then pulled out something from the nightstand drawer that he had put in there the night Lily had ended things between them. He hadn't been able to get rid of it, but he didn't want to see it either, so he had tucked it away in the drawer. It was a framed picture of Lily, smiling so beautifully in the way that only Lily could. It was from her birthday last year. She had on a stunning purple dress, and he had taken a picture of her, for she just looked so beautiful and happy. He was immediately taken back to the day he took it. It felt like yesterday.

"_It's you that's making me happy—not the dress," she told him._

_ "Well, if it's me, and not the dress, then why don't you replace that dress with my body?" he had murmured into her ear, after taking the picture._

_ She laughed. "We have dinner reservations! We can't!" _

_ "According to my watch, we still have a half hour before we have to leave. I can work with that!" he said, picking her up, and carrying her up the stairs._

_ She laughed. "Or, we could forget about our reservations, and order a pizza in," she purred, her eyes locked on his._

_ His eyes lowered. "I like the way you think!"_

_ They grinned at each other, and kissed._

He gently ran his thumb over her lips on the picture.

"Who am I kidding? You belong with me, and I belong with you no matter what I try to tell myself, and no matter what you try to tell yourself," he said to photo Lily.

He sighed, and set the picture down, this time back on top of the nightstand where it belonged. He took a long swig of his soda, then recapped the bottle, and set that back on the nightstand as well.

He took out another slice of pizza, and chewed it thoughtfully as Ivy's earlier words echoed in his head.

_"__I mean, what better way to get back at her than by sleeping with the love of her life, right? Because, let's face it, the love of her life certainly isn't Bart, or any of her other many husbands."_

Even a bitch like Ivy could see that he was the only one for Lily.

It was getting late, so he wouldn't do it tonight, but tomorrow, he was going to start his plan to win Lily back. Not that he had a plan, but he'd think of something. He wasn't about to Let Bart Bass steal his woman. True, she and Bart were married, but that could change. He'd make Lily see that Bart Bass was and always would be nothing but a lying, conniving ass just like Ivy was. It shouldn't be that hard to do. Then again Lily was stubborn. Still, he was going to win Lily back, and he didn't care how long it took. Heck, even if it took years, he would win his wife back, and when he did, this time, he was never going to let her go.


	2. The Breakfast

_**Drive By**_

_**Chapter Two: The Breakfast**_

Lily lie in bed, watching her newest husband sleep. It didn't seem like that long ago she was lying in bed, watching Rufus sleep. True, they hadn't been sleeping together for a while, even before their marriage had been annulled, but it still didn't seem like that long ago.

She sighed. She sometimes missed Rufus. She missed the way his hair used to fall into his eyes when he had it longer. She'd push the strands of hair out of his face, and take in how beautiful of a man he was. Then, when he'd wake up, he'd give her the sexiest smile, pull her closer, and kiss her like no man had ever kissed her before.

She smiled to herself as she remembered how they'd make love, then he'd be hungry for his morning waffles. He'd make them a wonderful breakfast, they'd eat, then shower together, which of course led to more lovemaking.

Bart was... Well, Bart was much different from Rufus. He was more serious, and he didn't even _like_ waffles. Heck, half the time, he didn't even eat breakfast, and when he did, it was just a cup of coffee, and a bagel with cream cheese. Then, he'd kiss her, and be out the door for some important business meeting or other office related things.

She reached out, and gently stroked Bart's cheek. Still, he did love her. She knew he did. He'd buy her expensive things. He'd sometimes come home for lunch so that he could take her out some place special. They'd also always eat dinner together, whether it be at home, or at some high class restaurant that was the kind of restaurant Rufus would always make fun of.

It wasn't that she didn't love Bart. She did a lot. It was just that, well, Rufus was fun, and Bart could be stuffy at times. Bart didn't like to watch TV, he only liked classical music, and he didn't like to sit still long enough for movies. He was good in bed, but... She didn't know. She just didn't feel his love for her as strongly as she had felt Rufus' love for her. She didn't doubt that Bart loved her. It was just that, again, she just didn't feel his love as strongly as she had felt Rufus' love for her.

But Rufus had betrayed her by supporting Ivy, and lying to her about it. Now, he was embarrassing her by dating Ivy. Ivy was nothing but a lying, manipulative, tramp, and though he hadn't slept with Ivy until after his and Lily's marriage was annulled, Lily still couldn't get over the fact that he had slept with Ivy Dickens even after she had lied to and manipulated their family. After all Ivy had done to them, he still fell for her like a dog in heat.

Lily smiled at Bart, and rubbed his chest. That was one of the things she loved best about Bart. He wasn't fooled by anyone, and he had zero tolerance for lying, manipulating bitches like Ivy. He wasn't blind. Unlike Rufus, he had been around the block a few times, and he could easily spot a scammer a mile away. This was good for her, because, just as much as she hated lying, scheming, manipulating whores, she hated men who were stupid enough to fall for them.

Bart stirred then, and opened his eyes. He smiled over at her. "Good morning, my beautiful Love." He stroked her hair.

She smiled at him. "Good morning, my handsome Darling!"

They kissed.

Lily moaned as their kisses intensified. She tried to pull him on top of her, but he broke the kiss, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, my Love, but I have a really important meeting at the office today. I don't have the time. I have to shower, and dress, and—"

Lily cut him off. "Say no more. I'll go make you some breakfast while you're in the shower."

He quickly kissed her lips. "That would be wonderful, thank you."

She smiled, and pulled him in for an even deeper kiss.

He kissed her passionately back just briefly. Then, he broke the kiss again. "You're going to make me late!" he said with a grin. He then got out of bed, grabbed some clean clothes, and headed off to the bathroom to take his shower.

Lily smiled. She loved making breakfast for her husband. Rufus had really let her. He preferred to do the cooking himself. He never flat our said she couldn't cook, but she always had suspicions that that is why he hardly ever let her cook.

She slipped on her robe, and padded down the stairs to the kitchen.

Over the next half hour, she made a delicious meal of French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacons, sausage links, coffee, and orange juice.

She had just finished setting it all up on the table when Bart came down the stairs, all dressed and ready for work.

Lily smiled at him. "You're just in time, my Darling! I have breakfast ready and waiting for you." She motioned to the table. "I cooked a man's breakfast too. None of the yoghurt and oatmeal 'woman's breakfast,' you always tease me about." She grinned and winked at him.

Bart came over, and looked over the breakfast spread out on the table. "It looks lovely, my Love, but I haven't got the time. I'm going to be late as it is!" He kissed her cheek, then grabbed his jacket, and slipped it on. He then slipped his shoes on, and grabbed his keys. "I'll call you at noon. Maybe we can do lunch together."

"You don't have time to eat _anything_? What will you do for breakfast?" Lily asked with a pout.

"I'll take some coffee with me." He grabbed his pre-filled coffee mug. "Mm, black! Just the way I like it." He gave Lily's lips a quick peck. "I'll call you later!" He then disappeared into the elevator, the doors closing, and therefore shutting him off from Lily's view.

"Well, you could have at least had a sausage link or two," she grumbled to herself.

With a sigh, Lily sat down at the table to have breakfast by herself. She didn't know why she was surprised. After all, it had never really been Bart's M.O. to have breakfast together.

It was times like these, she really missed Rufus. But she knew she had made the right decision. After all, anyone who was dumb enough to pick Ivy Dickens over her was no man for her.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Lily had finished her bacon, and was reading the paper while eating a sausage link when she heard the elevator doors open.

She smiled. "Did you change your mind about breakfast?"

"It depends. Did you make waffles?"

Lily whipped her head toward the elevator doors at the sound of Rufus' voice. "Rufus? What are you doing here? How'd you get in? Vanya didn't tell me you were coming up."

Rufus smiled. "You should know by now, Vanya doesn't make me get permission to come up here. After all, I used to be married to you. I lived here."

Lily scrunched her nose in disgust. "The key words being 'used to' and 'lived' as in the past tense. And, technically, we were never really married."

Rufus shrugged. "Still, he knows it's fine to send me on up."

"I'll have to talk to him about that," Lily said, pushing her reading glasses back up her nose, and turning back to her paper. "What do you want, Rufus?"

"Now, is that any way to treat your ex-husband?" Rufus asked.

Lily heard a sound as if he had tossed his jacket somewhere. Sure enough, when he took a seat next to her in the seat that should have been Bart's, he was without his jacket.

Lily set the paper aside, and rolled her eyes. She looked at him. "Why are you here, Rufus?" she asked again.

"I wanted to talk to you." Rufus nodded at the breakfast in front of him. "Where's the bastard you call a husband? And I do mean, Bass." Rufus winked ay Lily, then took a sausage link, and popped it all into his mouth at once.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "He's working. And who said you could have that?"

Rufus shrugged. "No one else is going to eat it, apparently. There's no use in it going to waste."

"How do you know I don't have someone coming over?" Lily asked.

Rufus raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you?"

Lily looked away. "No."

"Let me guess, you went all out and made this breakfast for your husband, only to have him go off to work without eating a single bite?" Rufus asked.

Lily sighed. She was so sick of Rufus knowing it all. Well, he didn't know it all about Ivy. That was for sure. "He took some coffee," she said, knowing herself that it was a weak response, but not knowing what else to say.

Rufus whistled. "Wow! How noble of him." He began to nibble on one of the bacon pieces.

"He was running late for work. It wasn't his fault," Lily said, only defending Bart because Rufus made her absolutely furious.

"Sure. Whatever you say," Rufus said, downing the other piece of bacon now that he had finished the first. "Mm, this is good bacon."

Lily rolled her eyes. "What did you want to talk to me about, Rufus?" She took her other sausage link off her own plate, and ate it. The bacon really _had_ been good. She'd give Rufus _that_ at least.

"Well, I'm just going to come out and say it. I want you back. You are the one great love of my life, and I don't care how much you might try to deny it, I am yours as well," Rufus said simply. He popped his other sausage link into his mouth.

Lily laughed bitterly. "You're right. I _am_ going to deny it. The one great love of my life wouldn't leave me for Ivy."

Rufus swallowed the sausage link, then took a sip of his orange juice before responding. "I only dated Ivy after yours and my marriage was annulled and you were back with Bart."

Lily glared at him. "But, while we were still married, you were helping her out behind my back when you knew I wouldn't approve."

"I thought at the time, I was doing the right thing," Rufus said calmly. He started on his eggs.

"Since when is going behind your wife's back the right thing?" Lily snapped. "My mother died, and I needed you. All the while, you were helping Ivy Dickens out behind my back!"

Rufus sighed. "Lil—"

"Don't call me that!" Lily snapped.

Rufus held his hands out in defense. "_Lily_, I just didn't think it was right the way you were putting her out on the streets after we thought for a while that she was family," he explained calmly. He took another sip of his juice, then went back to his eggs.

"She lied to us all, Rufus, and then she swindled money from my mother, who was on her death bed!" Lily could hardly believe he was still standing up for Ivy! She began to furiously eat her eggs.

Rufus sighed, and looked ay Lily. "She didn't swindle the money, Lil! Well, at least, at the time I didn't think she did. Your mother knew exactly who Ivy was, and she still gave her the money. That is why I didn't think Ivy was in the wrong."

Lily slowed down on her eggs, and looked at Rufus. "'Didn't think' as in past tense?"

Rufus nodded. He finished his last bite of egg, and downed the rest of his orange juice. "Do you mind?" he asked, nodding toward the pitcher.

Lily shrugged. "Why ask? You helped yourself to everything else without asking."

Rufus ignored her snarky comment, and poured himself some more orange juice. He set the pitcher down, and took another sip before responding. "You'll be happy to know I finally saw Ivy's true colors last night."

Lily was intrigued to say the least. "Oh? What happened?" She finished her eggs, then took a sip of juice before starting on her French toast.

"She and I had dinner reservations. She called me and told me she cancelled them because her friend just broke up with her boyfriend, and she (Ivy) was going to go be with her friend for the night to comfort her," Rufus began.

Lily snorted. "Ivy having friends? Yeah, right!"

"I was still hungry, and wanted to eat there, so I called the restaurant to see if I could get the reservation back. I figured I could take Dan instead or something. However, when I called, they said that Ivy never cancelled our reservation like she had told me she had," Rufus continued.

"So, what did you do?" Lily took another sip of her orange juice.

Rufus swallowed the bite of French toast he had in his mouth. "I headed over to the restaurant. I had a feeling something was up, and I wanted to see what it was."

Lily finished her first slice of French toast, and moved onto the other one. "Knowing Ivy, something was most definitely up. What was it?"

"I caught her holding hands with William. They paused outside the restaurant and kissed. I waited for them to go inside and be seated, then I went in and confronted Ivy," Rufus explained.

Lily set her fork down, putting her full attention on Rufus now. "That little bitch! You know she's only going after him to try to get back at me. We both know that's why she went after you."

Rufus nodded. "At first, I expected her to lie about what she was doing there with William, and she looked like she was going to at first. Then, her expression suddenly turned cold as if she had changed her mind. After that, she flat out admitted she was just using me; that she was dating me to get back at you. Then she went on about how I'm not even that good in bed, and how I'm boring."

Lily couldn't help it. She burst into laughter. "Burn!"

Rufus grinned. "'Burn?' That doesn't sound like something Lily van der Woodsen would say."

Lily laughed. "Well, the situation calls for it, so I'm making an exception." She nodded at him. "Go on."

"I told William that she is only using him to get back at you like she did with me," Rufus answered.

"And what did he say?" Lily went back to work on her last slice of French toast.

"He said that, in so many words, he knew that, but she was young and hot, and it hurt me, so why not?" Rufus finished up the last of his French toast.

Lily nodded. "That sounds like William all right—and Ivy too for that matter."

"I told William he _helped_ me, not hurt me. He helped me because I now see Ivy's true colors. Ivy said she was in love with William, and asked me to leave. I told them I hope they enjoy making each other miserable, and that she needs to get her stuff out of my apartment today, and be gone by the time I get home, or I'd call the police on her. She said she would, but we'll see," Rufus said, finishing the story. He went to work on finishing up his second glass of juice, the rest of his breakfast gone already.

"You calling the police of Ivy? Now _that_ I'd like to see. She'd probably con the cops out of arresting her though. I swear that girl is like a bad rash that won't go away," Lily sighed. "I'm full," she had finished everything, including her juice.

"Everything was delicious!" Rufus said, licking his lips, and patting his stomach. "I would have preferred waffles, but the French toast hit the spot too. I guess you _can_ cook after all. Except, next time, make waffles!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "So, bottom line, Rufus," she said as she set her empty glass back on the table. "What do you want?"

Rufus grabbed Lily's hands in his own, and gently squeezed them. "I already told you. I want you back, Lil." He looked deep into her eyes.

Lily looked in his eyes. They were pleading with her. She looked away. "Sure, now that Ivy showed you her true colors." She looked at him again, this time with annoyance. "I will not be your second choice, or the woman you go to when things don't work out with someone else! I'm not your backup plan, Rufus!"

Rufus shook his head. "It's not like that, Lil! I was going through that box of my things that you had sent back to me, and it made me realize how much I missed you, and how much I had been fooling myself by believing that I could ever live without you. I knew I wasn't in love with Ivy before I even knew what a backstabber she was! Lil, you gotta believe me when I tell you that you're the only woman for me, and you always will be! I was just hurt, and Ivy had me brainwashed. Then, you chose Bart over me, and I guess a part of me decided to date Ivy just go get back at you."

"So it's _my_ fault for choosing Bart over you? And I told you not to call me Lil!" Lily pulled her hands out of Rufus' grasp.

Rufus sighed. "I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is that we've both made some mistakes. I made the most mistakes of all, trusting Ivy, and letting you go for the second time."

Lily sighed. He seemed sincere, but it was too little too late. He should have been by her side right from the beginning, and trusted her right from the beginning when she told him what a lying, manipulating bitch Ivy was.

She looked away, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, it's too late now. I'm very happily married to Bart."

"Are you?" Rufus asked.

"Yes, I am. What kind of question is that?" Lily asked, still not looking at him.

"I know what kind of a man Bart is, Lily. You were unhappy with him before he supposedly died, so why should now be any different? Especially after he lied to you, and made you believe he was dead!" Rufus sounded riled up.

Lily still refused to look at him. "He did it for Charles' and my own protection."

"He let you, his _wife_, and Chuck, his _son_, believe that their husband and father were dead. Who does that? He could have trusted you enough to tell you, but he didn't. He didn't trust you, and we both know you can't trust him," Rufus insisted.

Lily responded, still not looking at him. "I never gave mine and Bart's marriage a shot. I should have. And, as for him faking his death, he couldn't risk Charles or me knowing about it. Keeping us in the dark meant keeping us safe. He did what he had to do to protect his family."

"Oh for goodness sake, Lily, stop making excuses for him! I know you'r not happy with him!" Rufus snapped.

"I'm madly in love with him, and so happy with him I could burst," Lily said calmly.

"All right then, if that's so, you'll have no problem turning around and facing me, then looking right into my eyes and telling me so," Rufus challenged.

Lily sighed. She slowly turned around. Then, her eyes boring into Rufus' mainly from anger, she spoke. "Rufus, I am madly in love, and unbelievably happy with Bart."

Rufus snorted. "Unbelievably is right!"

Lily shrugged, and poured herself some more orange juice. "I can't help it if you don't believe me, but it's the truth, so you should."

Rufus sighed, then stood up. "Fine. I'll let it go for now. I can see I'm not going to get anywhere with you. But let me tell you, Lily, I don't give two shakes about some stupid annulment. I married you, and I loved you—I still do and always will. That wedding meant _everything_ to me, and no stupid law or papers is going to tell me other wise. And, try as you might to deny it, I know it meant something to you as well."

"That was a long time ago, Rufus," Lily said, sipping her orange juice.

"Bottom line," Rufus said cooly, "I made the mistake of letting you go not once, but twice. I'm not going to let it happen again, and I will keep on fighting for you until I take my very last breath."

Lily did her best to remain cold. Oh how she wanted to believe Rufus! She really did! But after he chose Ivy over her, she just couldn't trust him anymore. She was still hurt, and she didn't know if she could ever forgive him. Especially after he slept with Ivy—sans hers and Rufus' annulment or not! So, instead, she said coldly, "Let's hope I don't need to take out a restraining order on you."

"Nice, _Lil_," Rufus said, emphasizing on the 'Lil.' He then pressed the elevator button, and got in once the doors opened. He faced her. "I know you're not happy with Bart, Lily. The sooner you admit it, the better."

The doors closed then, leaving Lily in peace once again.

Lily sighed. "I need something harder than orange juice!" she muttered to herself as she downed the rest of her second glass of orange juice in one gulp.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Bart arrived home for lunch, just as promised. He kissed her. "Want to go to your favorite cafe?"

Lily grinned. "You know I do!" They kissed again.

"So, what did you do today? Anything interesting?" Bart asked.

Lily had thought about it earlier, and decided not to tell him about Rufus coming over. There was no good in telling him. It would just make him start a war with Rufus.

She shook her head. "I did a little shopping, but didn't buy much. I just got a new pair of Christian Louboutins. Nothing too special." She latched onto his arm, and smiled.

Bart grinned. "'Nothing too special?' You better not tell Christian Louboutin that!"

Lily laughed.

Bart stroked her hair. "Well, I have an hour and a half before I have to get back, so let's go, shall we?"

Lily nodded. "Yes, we shall!"

They grinned at each other, and kissed once more before heading onto the elevator.

Lily held Bart close, resting her head on his shoulder. She had never given Bart a chance. She was intent on giving him a chance this time. Yes, she'd admit, her marriage to Rufus had been the happiest, best marriage she had ever had. Well, aside from the times they were on the outs. Still, Rufus had lied to her, and he had betrayed her. The only time Bart ever lied to her was to protect her. And Bart would never be so stupid as to fall for someone like Ivy Dickens. Also, unlike Rufus, Bart loved her for who she was, and would never try to change her. She and Bart were alike. She and Rufus were just too different. She would always love Rufus, but they just weren't meant to be. Bart was her life now, and Rufus was just going to have to accept that whether he liked it or not.


	3. The Reconciliation

_**Drive By**_

_**Chapter 3: The Reconciliation**_

Lily was so excited. Bart had once again skipped out on breakfast, but he had a dress and heels sent over to the apartment, along with a note.

_So sorry to cut out early on you, my Love, but to make it up to you, I got us reservations for dinner tonight at Très Délicieux. I know how much you've been wanting to go there. I also had my assistant pick out a little something for you to wear to the restaurant. She knows her fashion, so I figured you'd like what she picked out. Our reservations are for seven o'clock. I shall see you at six. See you tonight, my love. -Bart._

Lily had squealed when she read the note, for she had been wanting to go to _Très Délicieux_ for months! It was almost impossible to get in. She guessed that was a perk of dating someone rich and powerful—_nothing_ was impossible to get in.

She had squealed again when she saw the outfit. The dress was a beautiful red Valentino dress, and the shoes were red, peep-toe pumps. Bart hadn't been lying when he said his assistant knew her fashion!

Now, she was squealing again when she looked in the mirror, dressed, hair and makeup done, and ready to go. She looked absolutely breathtaking if she did say so herself.

She looked at the clock. It was five after six. Bart should be home at any moment.

She headed downstairs, and sat down on the couch with her issue of _Cosmo_, and began to look through the pages.

When she finished her magazine, she looked at the clock to see that it was six-thirty. She set the magazine down, then dialed up Bart's number.

Just when she thought his voicemail was going to pick up, he answered. "Hello?" He sounded a little distracted.

"Bart? It's Lily, Darling. Are you on your way home?"

Bart was silent for a moment.

"Bart?" Lily asked. "Are you there?"

"Um, yes! I'm sorry, my Love," Bart apologized. "I'm afraid there's been a change in plans. Something came up at work that is going to take hours to deal with. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel our plans for the night. I might have to pull an all-nighter, so don't worry about waiting up."

"But Bart, I was really looking forward to going to _Très Délicieux_! I'm all dressed up in the outfit you sent over and everything!" Lily usually wasn't a whiner, but she had really been looking forward to this!

Bart sighed. "I know, my Love, and I'm so sorry to have to do this to you, but it's something I really can't ignore!"

"So, you can ignore me, but you can't ignore work," Lily stated coldly.

"Lily, that's not fair, and you know it," Bart said calmly.

"Fine. I'll just see you tomorrow then," she said, trying not to cry.

"You know, I didn't cancel the reservations, so why don't you go anyway? Maybe Serena would like to join you?" Bart asked.

Lily sighed. "Yeah, maybe. If she's not busy with Dan."

"I'm sorry I have to go. I love you, and will see you tomorrow!" Bart said.

"I love you too. I really wish you didn't have to sta—" Lily cut herself off when she realized he had already hung up.

She stared at the phone, then shook her head, and hung up. "Stay all night," she finished with a sigh.

She sighed again, then dialed up Serena's number to ask her if she could join her tonight.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I'd love to, but I can't. Dan and I are going to a party for his new book tonight. Some other night, maybe?" Serena had said apologetically.

Lily nodded even though Serena couldn't see her nod over the phone. _Only, next time, getting into Très Délicieux might not be possible,_ she thought with dismay. "Some other night. Have fun. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom. Goodnight," Serena said.

"Goodnight, Serena." Lily hung up the phone with a sigh. She'd ask Eleanor, but Eleanor was out of town. She could ask Chuck, but Bart surely would find out then get angry she had asked him. Besides, she and Chuck weren't on the greatest of terms lately anyway. "I've _got_ to make some more friends!" she muttered to herself. She really wanted to go, but she didn't want to look ridiculous going to a fancy restaurant by herself, all dressed to the nines.

She sighed again. There _was_ one person she could ask, but she'd have to be pretty desperate to ask him. Unfortunately, desperate was exactly what she was. After all, she _really_ wanted to go to that restaurant.

With yet another sigh, she brought up the oh too familiar number on her phone. Then, with only a few second's hesitation, she dialed the number.

He picked up on the second ring. "Hello, Lil."

She rolled her eyes. She could practically _hear_ the smug grin on his face. "Hello, Rufus. I'm not asking you this because I want you back, but rather because I'm desperate, and have no one else to go with. Would you like to join me for dinner at _Très Délicieux_ tonight?"

Again, she could practically hear the smug grin in his tone when he responded, "But of course, my Darling."

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"Wow!" Rufus whistled upon arriving at the restaurant and seeing Lily. "You look ravishing! But that doesn't surprise me." He pulled her close, and kissed her cheek. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"Just don't get the wrong idea, all right? I invited you only because I was desperate to come here, and Bart got too tied up at work to join me. I didn't have anyone else to go with," Lily said sternly, her arms crossed over her chest.

Rufus brushed her off with a hand hitting the air. "Details, details. The important thing is I get to have dinner with you."

"At a hard to get in restaurant," Lily reminded him.

Rufus shook his head. "You should know by now, Lil, I'm not impressed with expensive restaurants. What's important is the company, and tonight, my company can't get any better than you."

Lily was going to complain that he had called her Lil, but she figured she's let this one slide since what he said had been kind of sweet.

"Let's get seated, shall we?" she asked.

Rufus motioned with his hand to the hostess station. "They're your reservations."

"Actually, they're Bart's," Lily said. She headed over to the hostess station anyway, and gave Bart's name.

"Right this way, Mrs. Bass!" the hostess said with a polite smile.

Lily couldn't see because she was walking ahead of Rufus, but she was willing to bet anything that he was rolling his eyes behind her back. When they were married, he absolutely loathed anyone still calling her Mrs. Bass. She had no doubt he hated it just as much now even though he and she were no longer married.

The hostess seated them, and it was only a minute later that their waiter showed up to take their drink orders. Rufus ordered a Merlot, and she ordered a glass of Chardonnay.

They made small talk while they looked over their menus. When the waiter came back with their drinks, they ordered their food. Lily ordered the Chicken breasts Dijon, and Rufus ordered the Hanger steak with mushrooms and red wine sauce.

Once the waiter had gone to put their order in, Rufus spoke first. "It's so typical of Bart Bass to promise you a nice dinner, then ditch you to work."

"He has to pay the bills," Lily said. "He can't help if the office needs him."

Rufus shook his head. "For one, he's Bart Bass. He already has all the money he could ever need. For two, he's the boss. He didn't have to work if he really didn't want to."

Lily placed her hands on the table, and fought to keep her expression serious. Rufus kind of had a point. She hated when he was right. Of course, she'd never admit to Rufus that he was right. "You know what? Can we not talk about Bart tonight? Clearly all you're going to do is insult my husband, and I'm not going to sit here and listen to it!"

Rufus held his hands up in defense. "All right, all right. I'll be good. But just let me say one more thing."

Lily sighed. "What's that?"

"That he's a fool for choosing work over you." He grabbed her hands. "I'd never pass up an opportunity to spend time with you—especially when you were looking so much forward to it. And, especially with you looking so sexy in that red dress!"

Lily blushed. "He didn't see me in it. His assistant just picked it out for me."

Rufus shrugged. "Even so, he had to have seen what she picked out for you. Even if he didn't, I don't care if his assistant picked out a paper bag for you to wear, you'd still be the most beautiful woman in the world to me."

Lily blushed some more. She wouldn't give into his charms. She wouldn't! She didn't know what to say to him. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about it. Their salads came, and she immediately went to work on her salad as if she hadn't eaten in a month.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"Oh, Rufus that was so long ago!" Lily said with a laugh.

Rufus grinned. He was making her laugh. That was a good sign. "You were so convincing. Heck, if I hadn't known better, even I would have believed you!" Rufus said with a laugh. He had just reminded her of the time when they were in their twenties and had just stared dating. Lily had missed her curfew for the third night in a row, causing Cece to ground Lily, and cut her off financially for a week. Lily had sneaked out of the house to be with Rufus. They had made love back at his place, then gone out to find something to eat. Lily saw this restaurant she really wanted to eat at. It wasn't anything super fancy like the restaurant they were eating at now, but it was still nice enough to be pricy. Seeing as Lily had been cut off, and Rufus never had much money to his name, they couldn't afford to eat there. However, Lily headed into the restaurant anyway.

"_Where are you going?" Rufus asked her._

_She grinned over her shoulder at him. "To get us some food, my Darling!"_

"_How are we going to get some food when we don't have any money?" Rufus asked. _

_Lily grinned at him again. "Just follow my lead." She winked, then headed into the restaurant. _

_Rufus had no choice but to follow in behind her._

_Lily asked to speak to the manager, and Rufus had been extremely confused._

_When the manager arrived, and asked Lily what he could help her with, Lily told him that her name was Cassidy James, and that this was her partner Gavin Houston, and that she and Rufus were local food critics there to see if their food was up to par. _

_Rufus thought for sure that there was no way the guy would buy it. For starters, obviously the manager had never heard of food critics by those names. Second, they were both so young. Third, what food critics came in twos? But, to his surprise, the manager suddenly turned serious. _

"_Right this way. I'm sure you'll find our food up to par. I even happen to have the best table in the house for you!" he said._

_Lily grinned. "Why thank you! I can tell you already, this is starting off well."_

_The manager grinned, seemingly pleased with himself. "And of course, you both may choose anything you'd like on the menu, as well as dessert. It will all be on the house."_

_Lily smiled. "Thank you so much!" _

_She turned around and winked at Rufus, who could only grin in return._

_Their meal had been the best they'd ever eaten. The dessert was divine._

_Lily promised she would give rave reviews, and told the manager that he should look for their review in _the New York Times.

_The manager couldn't thank them enough._

_Rufus and Lily left, then walked until the restaurant was out of their sight. Then, they both burst into laugher._

"_That poor guy is going to be crushed when he sees no review in tomorrow's paper!" Rufus stated._

_Lily laughed. "He'll get over it. The food's great. I'm sure a real food critic will come along and praise them up." She smiled, then wrapped her arms around him. "Besides, as least we got to eat free, right?" _

_Rufus wrapped his arms around her, and looked down at her with lowered eyes. He nodded. "Right!"_

"_I'm still hungry for something," Lily then purred into his ear._

_Rufus moaned. "For what? Though, he was pretty sure he already knew the answer._

_Lily slowly licked his left ear. "For you."_

"_Wanna go back to my place for some more dessert?" he asked her with a playful grin._

_Lily jumped up on him then, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. "Take me there, Baby!"_

_Rufus laughed, and tightened his arms around her, then carried her the whole two blocks back to his apartment._

"I still can't believe he believed you," Rufus said with amusement.

Lily grinned. "Maybe he was just infatuated with my hot looks!" she joked.

Rufus nodded. "I don't doubt it!"

Lily blushed.

Rufus smiled to himself, and went back to his salad. He was making her blush. That was another good sign.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"Thanks for inviting me, Lily. I had a really good time, and dinner was delicious, as was dessert," Rufus said to Lily as they exited the restaurant forty-five minutes later, having finished their dinner and dessert. For dessert, they had had crème brûlée, which they had both enjoyed.

"Thanks for joining me. I really wanted to go, and I wouldn't have went had I had to go alone," Lily stated.

Rufus grinned, and playfully nudged her. "Going with me wasn't half bad, was it?"

Lily smirked. "It was tolerable."

"So, did the restaurant live up to your expectations?" Rufus asked.

Lily nodded. "And then some! The food was delicious! I mean, how good was that crème brûlée?" Lily asked.

Rufus pat his stomach. "_So_ good!"

"It was so good I could go for more. I should have gotten more," Lily said.

Rufus grinned mischievously. "Or, we could go back to my place and have a dessert that's even better. You know, for old time sake?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Rufus. Are you forgetting I'm a married woman?"

Rufus groaned. "Don't remind me."

Lily walked over to him, and kissed his cheek, which surprised him. "Thank you for paying the bill. You didn't have to do that, you know. I'm the one who invited you, and, not to be rude, I'm the one who has the money—not you. I should have insisted I paid."

Rufus shook his head. "Don't even mention it! You shouldn't have had to pay. Why should you have to pay just because Bart had to work? You're the lady, and call me old fashioned, but the lady should never have to pay. Not with me anyway. Not when its you especially. You're worth every penny."

Lily looked touched. "I guess I really _should_ have ordered more crème brûlée then!" she joked.

Rufus motioned back toward the restaurant. "We can still go back in and get more. It's not too late!"

Lily laughed. "I was just joking!"

"Still, I'm willing," Rufus said.

Lily sighed. "I know you are. It's okay, really. I want to bring Bart some coffee, and something from the deli. Knowing him, he didn't even pause to eat dinner tonight."

Rufus' felt his own face dropping. He couldn't help it. Why did Bart Bass always have to get in the way of his and Lily's happiness? Couldn't they just be rid of him for one night at least?

Lily kissed his cheek again. "Thanks again. Have a good night."

Rufus kissed her cheek in return. "You're very welcome. And, you too."

"Thanks." Lily started to walk away, then turned around, and faced him. "Oh, and Rufus?"

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Please don't mention tonight to Bart. He doesn't need to know you and I had dinner together." Lily looked at him pleadingly.

Rufus shook his head. "I won't mention a thing to anybody about it, let alone Bart."

Lily looked relieved. "Thank you." She then turned, and left.

Rufus watched her until she was out of site, then he sighed. Bart probably had spies all around anyway. Lily should know that. But he would keep his mouth shut about the night as promised. As much as he would love to rub the night in Bart's face, telling him would only push Lily away, and he couldn't do that. Especially not now when he was just starting to break through her icy interior when it came to their relationship.

With a sigh, he hailed a cab, then headed back home to Brooklyn. Tonight hadn't been much, but it was a start. He'd take any good moment with Lily he could manage to get his hands on.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Lily was all smiles when she headed toward Bart's office, coffee and food in hand. She was imagining him loving her in the outfit. She'd tell him she went to dinner with Serena. Serena would cover for her. Then she could tell him how she had wanted to bring him dinner and coffee so that he didn't starve himself. Also, she wanted to show him off the outfit he had bought her. If things went according to plan, he'd be taking a break to eat his dinner, then have his dessert, which of course would be her. She was hoping he wouldn't be able to resist her once he saw her in her little red dress.

The building was eerily quiet. She was surprised, for usually someone was always around. She guessed only Bart was brave enough to work after hours. Oh well. If things went according to her plan, it would be better for no one else to be there anyway. That way, they didn't have to worry about others hearing them make love on his desk. Or on his office couch. Either one would work for her.

She got to his office door, and stopped short when she heard moaning. First it sounded like female moaning, and then it sounded like Bart's moaning.

She opened the door, and got the shock of her life. It turns out, Bart was in the mood for making love while still sitting in his desk chair...with his assistant on his lap, treating it like a carnival ride.

Lily covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh."

His assistant cried out in surprise.

Bart looked around his assistant, and his face instantly paled. "Lily! What are you doing here? I thought I locked the door."

"I was going to bring you dinner and coffee since I didn't think you would stop to eat dinner, but apparently you prefer to skip straight to dessert!" Lily snapped. "And, apparently, you _didn't_ lock the door. You might want to make sure you do the next time you decide to bang some two-bit slut on your chair."

"Lily, this isn't what it looks like," Bart tried.

Lily laughed. "Really? The big and powerful Bart Bass can't come up with anything better than the cliched, 'It's not what it looks like'?"

"Lily, I—"

Lily cut Bart off. "You know what? Save it, Bart! I was a fool to go back to you! You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm filing for divorce. No one cheats on me. No one!" She was so angry, she tossed the food and coffee across the room. The coffee splattered against one of the white walls. The food bag sat unharmed on the floor. "You might wanna clean up that wall," she muttered, nodding toward the wall before leaving the office, and slamming the door hard behind her.

She ran out of the office building, ignoring Bart's cries for her to come back. There was no way she was going back to him. She had already been fooled by him more times than she should have been.

She ran down the street until she couldn't run anymore. Then, she sat down on the steps to some building she had never been to, and cried until she had no tears left to cry. Then, she got up, brushed herself up, composed herself, and hailed a cab. She had something to do. Something that was the only thing that would keep her sane. She had to see Rufus.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Rufus couldn't stop thinking about Lily, and the night they had had. Sure it had only been dinner, and sure it had cost him two hundred dollars, but it had been worth it just to hear Lily laugh again, and to see her beautiful smile. It felt so good to not be at each other's throats anymore. He loved her so much. Tonight had been the start of something big for them he hoped.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. He wondered who it could be at this hour. He climbed out of bed where he had been looking at his and Lily's wedding picture. He set the picture on the nightstand, then went to answer the door.

He opened it, and boy was he surprised to see Lily there. Looking angry at that.

"What did I do this time?" he didn't mean for it to come out quite so harshly, but he had a good time that night, and he knew she did too. She had no reason to turn it into something bad unless Bart had found out about it and turned her against him.

She shook her head. "It's nothing _you_ did." She narrowed her eyes. "It's what _Bart_ did."

Rufus hid a smile. It was about time she got angry with Bart! He didn't know for what, but whatever it was, he was just grateful to be the good one in her eyes again. "What did he do? He shut and locked the door behind her.

"I went to bring him coffee and dinner like I said I was going to. I thought maybe he and I could share a little romantic time together. Boy was I surprised when I saw him already having some romantic, or in this case, _lustful_ time with his intern. I found her riding him right there on his desk chair. It was disgusting! Absolutely despicable! I should have known Bart Bass can't and never will be able to change!"

Rufus clenches his fists. "Like I said, he is an ass hole! Where is he? Is he still at work? I'm going to go teach him not to ever mess with you." He started to head to the door, anger overcoming him. How dare Bart cheat on Lily? Especially after she trusted him to love her and cherish her? He didn't deserve to live.

Lily held him back. "Rufus, no! You know Bart. He'll just have you put in jail. He'll never change anyway. Please, just stay here with me. I need you."

Rufus turned around, and saw the hurt in Lily's eyes. He sighed. "How can I say no to you?" he asked, pulling her close.

"You were right, and I was wrong. I should have stayed with you. Bart is nothing but a manipulative, lying, cheating ass!" Lily cried.

"Well, I should have listened to you about Ivy. She's a lying, conniving little bitch, so we're even," Rufus said, gently rubbing Lily's back.

Lily looked up at him, and laughed quietly. "What a mess we are, huh?"

Rufus grinned. "Actually, we're not a mess. We finally saw our exes for the manipulative monsters they really are."

Lily gently stroked his cheek. "And I finally realized that you're the only one for me. You would never cheat on me."

Rufus shook his head, and gently stroked her cheek in return. "Never!" he agreed, his eyes lowered with love for her.

"Can you ever forgive me, and take me back?" she asked.

"Lil, it's already been done. Can you forgive me for trusting Ivy over you, and take _me_ back?" Rufus asked.

Lily took his face between her hands, and looked deep into his eyes. "Rufus, it's already been done," she murmured.

He closed his eyes, and leaned in, then sighed as Lily's lips met with his.

They kissed for quite a while, their kisses intensifying with every kiss.

Lily then started backing him toward the bedroom.

He moaned. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"You're not just trying to get back at Bart? Because I don't want this to be because of that. I want this to be for love and nothing else," he stated.

She shook her head. "It's only for love. I promise you, Rufus. I love you, and I just want to be with you. I _need_ to be with you. Make love to me, please?"

Rufus nodded, his eyes lowered with love for her. He picked her up. "I love you so much!" he said.

Lily stroked some hair out of his eyes. "I love you too. More than I even knew my heart could hold. It's always been you, Rufus. Always."

"And it's always been you, Lil," he said, his eyes still lowered with love for her.

They kissed again, then he carried her to the bedroom, so eager to make love to the one great love of his life again. It had been far too long.


	4. The Aftermath

_**Drive By**_

_**Chapter 4: The Aftermath**_

The next morning, Rufus lie in bed, watching Lily sleep. Even sleeping, she took his breath away. The night before had been amazing. It was his every dream coming true. He loved her so much. He gently kissed her shoulder, then lay his head back down beside hers, his arms wrapped around her as he closed his eyes, and let his mind replay the night before.

_They didn't say a word to each other as they made love, and kissed passionately. Lily's fingers dug into his back, and her body arched as he made love to her. He wanted to make her feel all the love he had for her, which was more than he knew his heart could hold. _

_ She clung tightly to him, moving her body in time with his. Her legs were wrapped firmly around his waste. "I love you," she breathed into his ear._

_ "I love you too," he murmured, looking down at her with half-shut eyes._

_ They continued to kiss as Rufus slowly ran his hands down over Lily's body. _

_ Lily tangled her fingers in his hair, but made sure even in her passion not to pull his hair too hard. _

_ Even after it was over, he continued to hold her tightly, for now that he had her back, he never wanted to let her go. It was all right though, for Lily didn't seem in any hurry to let him go either. _

_ When they finally did pull apart, it was only because he had to take a bathroom break. Then, she did. _

_ By then, they were both wide awake, and decided on having a midnight snack of waffles and bacon with orange juice._

_ "We shouldn't be eating all this junk before bed you know," Lily said they ate at the kitchen island._

_ Rufus play gasped. "You did _not_ just call waffles junk! Take it back!"_

_ Lily laughed. "All right, all right. I take it back. Waffles aren't junk. Still, this food is fattening, and it's never a good idea to eat something so heavy right before bed."_

_ Rufus grinned at her. "Well, why don't we work it off before bed then? Maybe even help our digestive systems digest a little faster?"_

_ Lily smiled. "What did you have in mind?"_

_ He hopped off his stool, and took her hand. He grinned at her. "Why don't I just show you?"_

_ Lily looked at their clasped hands, then at the mischievous grin on his face. She then met his mischievous grin with a mischievous grin of her own. "By all means, show me."_

_ Lily let him help her up out of her chair, then he picked her up, and brought her to the bedroom, where they helped each other out of their clothes. _

_ They made love again, then held each other afterwards. _

_ "Mm," Lily moaned. She kissed his chest. "You're right. That was an excellent way to work off the fat, and help aid our digestive systems. I like the way you think, Humphrey!"_

_ They grinned at each other._

_ "And I love the way you make love," he told her._

_ She grinned, and they kissed some more._

_ Eventually, drowsiness got to them, and they fell asleep, but not until they were safely tucked into each other's loving arms._

Rufus kissed her again, only this time, he woke her up.

Lily's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she smiled up at him. "Good morning, my Darling."

"I'm sorry." He gently stroked some hair out of her face. "I didn't mean to wake you. You were just so beautiful lying there. I couldn't help it. I had to kiss you."

She grinned, and gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "Never apologize for kissing me."

He grinned too. "Let me make it up to you." He kissed her softy at first, until she moaned, and pulled him in for a much deeper, much more passionate kiss.

When they finally broke for air, he lay back down, and propped himself up on his elbow, facing her. "You don't regret last night, do you?"

She looked at him. "Not at all. Why, do you?"

He shook his head. "Are you kidding me? It was a dream come true for me, finally getting you back."

She gently stroked his cheek. "I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize what a bitch I was being."

Rufus shook his head, and gently stroked Lily's cheek in return. "It's not entirely your fault. I was a total idiot for falling for Ivy. Actually, you weren't a bitch at all. You were just telling me something I didn't want to hear."

"Well, I could have taken more time to listen to you. Maybe if I was nicer about it, you would have been more apt to believe me," Lily said, looking away, as if ashamed.

"Hey." Rufus gently turned her chin so that she was forced to look at him. "We both made mistakes, but we both learned from them. Let's just enjoy the fact that we're finally back together, all right?"

Lily grinned. "We've already been enjoying being back together."

Rufus laughed. "Very true!" He then pulled her closer. "In fact, want to enjoy it a little more?"

Lily smiled, and stroked his cheek again. "I'd love to, but, like it or not, I have to see Bart. My anger has replaced my shock, and now I need to go over there, and give him a piece of my mind."

Rufus gently ran his fingertips up and down Lily's right arm. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Lily shook her head. "I love you for offering, but no thanks. This is something I have to do on my own." She took his face in hers, and kissed him passionately. "But I love you, and we're going to be together, you and I, so don't you worry."

"You do realize, now that I finally have you back, I'm never gonna let you go this time, right?" Rufus asked her, an eyebrow raised.

She nodded, then kissed him. "I wouldn't have it any other way." They kissed some more.

Soon, as they usually did, their kisses turned more intense.

Rufus moaned. "Mm, are you sure you don't have time first to...?"

Lily grinned. "I always have time for that when it's with you."

Rufus lowered his eyes with love for her.

The kissed again, and Rufus pulled the covers up over their heads.

Lily giggled, but her giggles soon turned to moans as Rufus once again showed her how much he truly loved her.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Lily had called Bart before leaving to see him. She didn't want to be surprised anymore than she already had to. Walking in on him and his assistant last night had been more than enough. She did not need a replay.

Bart had calmly told her that she could meet him at the apartment. He was taking the day off of work.

As Lily headed up the elevator that would take her to her apartment, she couldn't help but get more and more annoyed with every floor the elevator took her past. Of course now that they were divorcing he could manage to take a day off. When they were together, and she really wanted to spend the day with him, of course he couldn't take the day off. Work was too important to him. Or rather, his assistant was too important to him, she assumed.

The elevator doors opened, and she stepped into their apartment, her heels clicking along the floors, and seeming to echo off the walls. The clicking of her heels was the only sound in the room.

She found Bart sitting on the couch, waiting for her. He was just staring off into space. He wasn't reading the paper, or even watching TV. He was just sitting there, looking emotionless.

"Have you come to slap me? To tell me off? To tell me you never want to see me again?" he asked in an eerily calm tone.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Slap you? I should, but I won't. You're not worth the risk of breaking a nail. Tell you off? I could, but you're not worth the breath. Besides, it wouldn't register with you. You'd just go back out, and continue sleeping with the many beautiful women in your life. As for telling you I never want to see you again, that's about right. However, there's a little matter we have to take care of before I can move on with my life and never have to see your lying, cheating, disgusting self again."

Bart sighed, then stood up. He walked over to the kitchen island, and picked up some papers. He then handed them to Lily. "Is this the matter you were talking about?"

Lily looked at the papers. They were divorce papers, already drawn up. His signature was on the bottom of them.

She looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Well, that was quick."

He shrugged. "I never saw much point in dragging out the inevitable. You can read it if you want. It basically states that we will split everything we own in half. The apartment in still in my name, but it's yours if you want it. I can sign it back over to you."

"So, you're not even going to try to win me back?" Lily asked, shocked.

Bart shrugged. "What's the point? I cheated on you. I know you, Lily. You don't go back to cheaters."

"I guess I don't really have the right to be angry, after I cheated with Rufus the night before our wedding. Our first wedding that is," Lily said. She hadn't really thought of that little detail until right then. She suddenly felt like a hypocrite.

Bart sighed. "Let's face it, Lily, We tried, but the fact is, we don't belong together. We're just not right for each other. I like my women too much to dedicate my life to just one, and you... Well, we both know your heart has belonged to Rufus since the day you met him. It always will."

Lily was quiet as she took all that in. Then, she nodded. Surprisingly, he was right. For once in his life, Bart Bass was right. Who would have thought?

"You were with him last night, weren't you?" Bart asked suddenly.

Lily blushed. "How did you know?"

Bart sighed. "I had a feeling it would be Rufus you'd be taking to the restaurant when I turned you down. One of my men saw you go into the restaurant with him last night."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest again, and raised an eyebrow. "So, you had someone spying on me."

Bart actually blushed, and Bart _never_ blushed. "I'm sorry about that. I dismissed him as soon as he called me to tell me you were there with Rufus. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions."

"Why did you care? I mean, if you were sleeping with someone else anyway?" Lily asked.

Bart sighed. "Partly out of curiosity. Partly because I thought that, if you were with Rufus, I didn't have to feel so bad, sleeping with another woman."

Lily smirked. "Well, what do you know? Bart Bass has at least half a conscience."

Bart shrugged, and gave her a weak smile. "It's a start, right?"

Lily's expression remained serious, and her arms remained crossed over her chest. "I suppose."

"I take it you spend the night with Rufus at his place?" Bart then asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I did. It felt good to be with a man who actually loves me," Lily stated simply, her head held high in defiance.

Bart looked her in the eyes, his expression serious. "I do love you, Lily. There was never a time that I didn't. Though, I suppose I don't love you on as deep of a level as Rufus does."

Lily sighed. "And I loved you. But, as you pointed out, we both know my heart belongs to Rufus. And your heart, well, who knows who that truly belongs to, if anyone."

Bart didn't say anything as Lily walked over to the desk, and set the papers down on top of it. She read them over for a moment to make sure that there were so secret loopholes, and that she was indeed going to get half of everything, as Bart had promised. When she saw that Bart was indeed telling the truth for once, she took out a pen, clicked it open, and signed the divorce papers.

She then clicked the pen closed, set it aside, picked up the papers, and brough them back over to Bart. She handed him the papers. "Keep the apartment. Rufus never liked it anyway."

"So, I guess this is it then. You know, I did try to be a good husband to you, Lily," Bart stated.

Lily shrugged. "It just wasn't meant to be. _We_ weren't meant to be."

Bart nodded sadly. "Believe it or not, I do wish you and Rufus a long and happy life together."

Lily smiled weakly. She then took Bart's hand, and squeezed it. "Thank you, Bart. I appreciate that. I really do. And I wish you a long and happy life with whomever that might be."

"Thank you," Bart said.

Lily kissed his cheek.

Bart kissed her cheek in return.

Lily then left the apartment, not looking back as she stepped into the elevator. Then, she turned around and saw Bart's sad face watching her until the elevator doors closed, closing on their marriage as well.

Lily sighed. It was over. For good this time.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"So, how did it go?" Rufus asked, pulling Lily into his arms, and kissing the top of her head once she had arrived back at his loft.

"Surprisingly well. He already had the divorce papers drawn, and ready for me to sign, so I signed them," Lily answered.

"I'm surprised he didn't try to fight for you," Rufus said, truly surprised.

Lily shrugged. "I was too, but he told me he knows that my heart will always belong with you, and that he loves his women too much to dedicate his life to just one."

Rufus shook his head. "That guy really is a jack ass. He's a fool for not loving you. But at least he finally realized that he isn't the man for you; that I am." He rubbed her back soothingly up and down.

Lily sighed with contentment, and nuzzled her face against his chest. "I'm just glad it's over."

Rufus used his free hand to stroke her hair. "I guess that's one good thing Bart's money and power did for us. It sped up the divorce."

"Mm, yes," Lily said, sounding tired.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rufus asked, gently stroking her cheek now, and looking into her eyes.

"Nothing. I'm just tired. Do you mind if I take a nap?" Lily asked him.

"Of course I don't mind! My place is your place now," Rufus said. He picked her up, and carried her to the bed.

"Actually, it really is. Bart gave me fifty percent of everything, but he has the apartment. He said I could have it, but I figured maybe you and I could finally find a place of our own? A place that is not just mine, not just yours, but ours?" Lily asked.

Rufus grinned, and stroked her cheek again. "That sounds perfect!"

"Mm, _you're_ perfect. Perfect for me," Lily murmured, stroking his cheek in return.

Rufus' eyes lowered with love for her as he gently kissed her lips. "Just as you're perfect for me, my Love."

They kissed some more, then Lily fell asleep in his arms.

Rufus fell asleep shortly after, Lily still in his arms, and her head resting on his chest.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

It was Thanksgiving, and the table was set with the turkey, and everything else needed for a delicious Thanksgiving feast. It was a few days after Lily had said goodbye to Bart for good.

Lily had wanted her first Thanksgiving back with Rufus to be special. So, together, they had made the dinner at the loft, and invited over their children to celebrate the good news with them about their reuniting. Even Jenny and Eric were coming back, so everyone was going to be there. Lily was so happy!

Serena and Dan were already there, and helping her set everything on the table that Serena had been nice enough to set for her.

Rufus was off to the train station to pick up Jenny, and then to the airport to pick up Eric. He had left an hour ago, so Lily was hoping he would be back soon.

Fifteen minutes later, she got her wish. The doors opened, and in came Rufus, Jenny, and Eric.

Lily ran to Eric and hugged him. "I'm so glad you guys could come home for Thanksgiving! I missed you terribly!" She kissed Eric's forehead with a loud smack.

Eric grinned, but gently pushed his mother away. "Ah, Mom, you're going to get lipstick all over my head!"

Lily grinned. "Sorry!" She licked her thumb, then wiped at the red lip mark on her son's forehead.

"Yuck, Mom!" Eric said, pushing her away again. "I'll get it."

Lily pouted. "You never used to mind before."

"Yeah, when I was like ten!" Eric said.

Lily continued to pout.

Eric hugged his mom, and kissed her cheek. "Let me do the kissing. I don't wear lipstick!" he grinned.

"Thank God for that!" Lily said.

They all laughed.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Mom," Eric said with a smile.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Eric," Lily said, feeling the happy and excited feeling in her chest again.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Lily!" Jenny said, hugging Lily.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Jenny!" Lily said, hugging her tightly in return. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Me too," Jenny said with a smile, breaking the hug.

Lily then headed over to Rufus. She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for bringing the kids home." She kissed him.

Rufus kissed her back, then held her at arm's length, and grinned at her. "I'm not done yet."

Lily was confused. She was sure the expression on her face showed as much. "What do you mean?"

Rufus nodded over to the doors. "Why don't you go open the doors? I left you a little surprise out in the hallway."

"Rufus, what are you up to?" Lily asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"Just go look, would ya?" Rufus asked her. He grinned.

"Oh, all right!" Lily headed to the loft's doors. She swung them open, then gasped, and covered her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears of joy when she saw, standing before her, none other than her's and Rufus' son, Scott.

Scott grinned at her. "Happy Thanksgiving, Mom."

Lily cried out in happiness, then ran grabbed him, and pulled him to her. She held him close, and rocked him back and forth with her.

"I take it you're glad to see me?" Scott asked with a laugh.

"You have no idea!" she said though sniffles. "Oh, Scott, I'm so happy! I never thought we'd have the whole family together again, and now you're here!"

"I'm glad to be here, but, Mom, could you please let go of me? You're kind of crushing me," Scott said.

"Oh! Sorry. I'm just so happy to have you here!" Lily said, releasing him.

Before Scott could respond, Chuck arrived, bearing a pumpkin pie. "Well, well, if it isn't my half brother. Well, not biologically, but you get the drift. I didn't know you'd be here, but I'm glad you are. It's good to see you again," Chuck said to him.

Scott smiled. "Hello, Chuck. My dad called me, and had me come down as a surprise for Lily. It's good to see you too, adopted, half brother of mine." He grinned.

Chuck laughed, and they hugged, careful not to smoosh the pie between them.

"Charles!" Lily walked over to him. "I apologize ahead of the for the red stain on your cheeks." She kissed both his cheeks with a loud, _muah_! "I'm so glad you could make it! Happy Thanksgiving! Mm, that pie looks delicious. Thank you for bringing it."

"Thank you for inviting me. I know all of your real children are here. I'm glad to be included," Chuck said.

"You're my real child too. Blood has nothing to do with it," Lily said. She gave his forehead a kiss this time.

Chuck kissed her cheek in return. "And, as far as I'm concerned, you're my real mother. I love you."

"I love you too! I'm going to cry again," Lily said.

They all laughed.

"Come in, come in! Chuck, the bathroom's over there, if you want to wipe all the lipstick off," Lily said.

"Thanks. I was just about to ask," Chuck said with a grin. He set the pie down on the island.

Scott was socializing with his siblings and father.

Chuck headed off to the bathroom to wash his face before his greetings.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

Ten minutes later, everyone was sitting at the Thanksgiving table. Rufus had prayed the blessing, and now, before eating, they were all going around the table giving something they were grateful for.

Jenny was thankful her fashion designing career was taking off. Scott was thankful to have found his birth parents, and to be able to spend Thanksgiving with them. Eric was grateful to have parents that were very loving and understanding when it came to him being gay. He had some gay friends who weren't so lucky when it came to their parents understanding. Chuck was grateful to have a mother in Lily. He said he had never thought he would have a mother until Lily came along. Of course, he made Lily cry again at this revelation. It was happy tears she was shedding though of course. Then, Dan and Serena surprised them all by saying that they both have the same thing they are thankful for. They held hands, and announced that they were back to being a couple. Everyone was happy for them.

When it was Rufus' turn, he took Lily's hand, and kissed it. Then, staring deep into her eyes, he said, "I'm thankful to have the love of my life back with me where she belongs."

Lily teared up again. She rubbed her thumb over his hand. "And I'm thankful to have the love of _my_ life back. You're the only man I ever truly loved, Rufus. At least this much."

"And you're the only woman I truly loved." Rufus kissed her, and she hungrily kissed him back.

The kids weren't surprised, since Rufus and Lily had told them prior to Thanksgiving about their reuniting. However, it didn't stop them from being grossed out.

"All right, all right! That's sweet and all, but knock it off. You're grossing us out!" Serena said.

Dan nodded. "Dad, as relieved as I am to see you kissing Lily instead of Ivy, please don't do it while we're eating."

"It's kind of nauseating," Eric stated.

"Totally," Jenny agreed.

"I think it's romantic," Chuck said. "I'm glad to see them back together. Lord knows my father is an ass, and Ivy's a conniving little bitch."

Scott nodded. "I like knowing my parents are in love."

"Either way, the majority rules. Please, stop it!" Serena whined.

Rufus groaned, but broke the kiss. "All right, all right, we'll stop. For now." He wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively at Lily, who giggled.

"Thank you!" Serena said.

"They stopped." Eric held up his glass in a fake toast. "Something else to be thankful for." He took a sip.

His siblings laughed.

Rufus and Lily rolled their eyes, but grinned nonetheless.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

It had been a wonderful dinner, and they had all gotten the chance to catch up, and reminisce. The best part was they all agreed to spend Christmas together as well. Even Scott was interested in spending Christmas with them. Of course, this made Lily extremely happy.

Chuck invited his siblings and Dan to stay at The Empire Hotel since the loft was certainly not big enough for them all to stay. They were all more than happy to.

They were all going to have breakfast together the next morning, then Lily and the girls were going to go Black Friday shopping while Rufus and the boys stayed home and watched football. Then, they'd all meet up again for dinner. Scott didn't have to leave until Sunday.

"This is going to be such a fun weekend!" Lily said as she got ready for bed in the bathroom. She left the door open so that Rufus could hear her from where he lie in bed. He had already gotten ready for bed, and now it was her turn.

"Yeah. I think it's the most time we've ever spend with the kids at a time. At least with all of them together. It feels nice," Rufus agreed.

"Like back when they were kids, and still had time for us, you mean?" Lily asked.

"Exactly!" Rufus agreed.

Lily came into the bedroom then, wearing a black lace negligee.

Rufus whistled. "Wow."

Lily grinned, her hand propped on the side of the door frame as she posed sexily underneath the door frame. "Do you like?"

Rufus moaned. "Do I like? Baby, you know I love."

Lily giggled, then ran over to the bed, and pounced onto it. "You make me act like I'm a teenager again," she said, gently stroking his cheek. "I'm just so happy with you."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Rufus said.

"Oh, and why's that? Because I make you feel the same way about me?" Lily teased, pushing a stray strand of hair out of Rufus' eyes.

Rufus nodded. "Well, that. But also because maybe since you feel that way, you'll be more apt to say yes."

Lily raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Yes to what?"

Rufus moved his hand behind him, grabbed the ring box, then held it in front of Lily.

Lily gasped, and covered her mouth as he opened the blue velvet ring box that displayed the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen in her life. It was set in what looked like silver with a silver and diamond pattern that looked like vines that held the diamond as if the diamond was a flower. The diamond was beautiful. It was the perfect size. Not small enough to be embarrassing, and not ridiculously big either. The diamond was perfectly round. In fact, the whole ring was perfect.

"It's a platinum gold with an 18 carat diamond. Funny thing is, it's even called the Lily ring. I figured it's a sign that it was the right one. Do you like it?" Rufus asked her.

"Like it? Oh, Rufus, it's absolutely breathtaking. I love it!" Lily said, tearing up again.

Rufus took her left hand in his. "So, what do you say, Lily Rhodes, Van der Woodsen, whatever, whatever, Bass, Humphrey, Bass? Will you be a Humphrey again?"

Lily smirked. "I don't know, Rufus. I'll have to wait and see if Dan asks me. I don't think he will since he kind of has a thing for my daughter now. Unless, she's just a cover to get to me. Hm, you know, I never thought of that before!"

Rufus laughed. "Shut up! I'm being serious here!"

Lily grinned. "I know. I'm sorry. Ask me again. I promise to be serious this time."

Rufus cleared his throat. "All right. Lily, will you do me the greatest pleasure in life by being my wife?"

Lily giggled. "You rhymed!"

"Lily!" Rufus whined. "You promised!"

"You're right. I'm sorry. I have my answer," Lily said, turning serious again.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Lily sighed. "No."

Rufus felt as if a boulder had been dropped into his stomach. His face fell. "No?"

Lily burst into laughter. "Rufus, I was only joking! Of _course_ I'll marry you, you Idiot! It's about time you asked!"

Rufus grinned. "You're such a bitch!"

"And yet, somehow, you love me anyway," Lily said.

Rufus licked his lips, and nodded. "That I do." He slid the ring onto her left ring finger. "It looks even more beautiful on you than I even imagined it would."

Lily grinned, eyeing the ring on her finger. "I love this ring so much, and I absolutely _adore_ the fact that it has my name. But, you know, you didn't have to get me a new one. I loved the one you got me before too."

Rufus nodded. "I know, but I wanted a fresh start for us. With the new gallery, I can afford it now. I wanted to get you a new ring to symbolize a new beginning between us. This time, our marriage is going to last."

"You bet it is!" Lily said. She pulled him close, and kissed him. "Mm, I can hardly wait to be your wife again," she said, smiling, and nuzzling her nose against his.

"And I can hardy wait to be your husband again," he said to her.

Lily looked at her ring again. "And, hey. At least this way, if I ever lose this one, I always have my old one as a spare."

Rufus shook his head. "Don't you dare lose that one! Do you have any idea how much a platinum, eighteen carat engagement ring costs?" he asked, only half teasing.

Lily grinned at him. "I'll guard it with my life."

Rufus' eyes lowered with love for her. "And I'll guard _you_ with _my_ life."

Lily grinned some more. "Sounds good." She moved even closer to him. "Now what do you say we practice for our wedding night?"

Rufus moaned, and clicked off the lights.

Lily giggled. "I'll take that as a yes!"

"Oh, definitely a yes," Rufus said, straddling her, then kissing her passionately.

Lily moaned, and hungrily kissed her future husband back. She could hardly wait to be his wife. And, this time, she wasn't going to make the stupid mistake of letting him go.


	5. The Happy Ending

_**Drive By**_

_**Chapter 5: The Happy Ending **_

"And I promise I will love you more with every breath that I take. I let you let me go not once, but twice. Well, no more. I love you, Lily, and I won't lose you again. I promise to be the husband you want and need me to be, because I never want to have to live without you again. Twice is already two times too many, and I just can't lose you again. You mean more to me than my own life, and I promise that is never going to change, nor will my love for you." Rufus ended his vows, but his eyes remained on Lily in her beautiful white wedding dress. He had never seen her look so breathtaking in his entire life, and he had seen her look pretty breathtaking, for she was naturally breathtakingly beautiful. But this went above and beyond breathtaking. She was absolutely stop dead in your tracks, stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful.

Lily smiled at him, which only made his heart beat faster.

Lily squeezed his hands, and began her vows when prompted by the minister. "And _I_ promise to love _you_ more and more with every breath. I was stupid to let go of you even once! To let go of you twice was positively foolish! I promise that, from now on, if we start to have problems again, I will not run from you, or let you go. I will make sure we work the problems out, because I'm tired of running from you. I'm tired of leaving you. I tried it twice, and it clearly didn't work. It didn't work because I can't live without you. I tried it, and I never want to have to try it again. I know it's just not possible for me to live without you if I ever want to live a happy life. You are my everything, Rufus. You always have been from the very first day I met you. I know that's never going to change. I love with you with every beat of my heart, and breath that I take, and I will love you even when my time of this earth is gone. I promise to be the best wife I can possibly be to you." She stroked his cheek. "I love you, Rufus. Always."

They both had tears in their eyes then.

The minister then asked for the rings. Scott, being Rufus' best man, handed him the rings.

Rufus took the first ring, and placed it on Lily's left ring finger, repeating after the minister. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Lily took her ring from Scott next, then slid it on Rufus' left ring finger, also repeating after the minister. "With this ring, I thee wed."

The minister smiled. "Well, then, by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you, husband and wife." He turned to Rufus, the smile still on his face. "You may kiss your bride."

Rufus and Lily both grinned, and their witnesses all clapped as Rufus pulled Lily close, and kissed her even more passionately than he had at their first wedding. Only this time, he kissed her all for the sake of love, and none for the sake of show.

When they broke the kiss, they grinned at each other as everyone continued to clap and cheer.

They had only invited their immediate family and closest friends, which included, Scott, Jenny, Eric, Dan, Serena, Chuck, Blair, Nate, Eleanor, Cyrus, Dorota, and Vanya. They hadn't wanted a big wedding. They just wanted a tiny gathering that was even smaller than their last wedding. This time, they found a small one-room chapel, and a minister they liked that was happy and wiling to marry them.

Rufus and Lily walked hand-in-hand out of the chapel, the happy attendees cheering and clapping behind them.

When they got out onto the chapel steps, Rufus stopped Lily, and pulled her close to him. He burred his nose in her neck. "I'm so happy you're my wife again. I love you so much. I meant it when I said I'm never letting you go this time."

Lily gently stroked his cheek, and looked up at him from underneath her lashes. "Well, that works out well because I'm never going to let you let me go."

They kissed, so in love, and so happy knowing that they would never have to be apart again.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

The reception was held at the loft. It was nothing overly fancy, but it was catered at least. Rufus and Lily didn't feel the need for anything all that spectacular when their wedding hadn't been big. Besides, they both kind of liked the idea of at least having some part of their first wedding incorporated into this one. They had had their first wedding and reception at the loft, so it seemed appropriate to have their reception at the loft this time as well.

They had just finished a delicious meal of salad with Italian dressing, meat lasagna, green beans, and a red Jello mold with strawberries in it. Now, they were dancing before the cake came out.

"The bride and groom get the first dance!" Blair called out.

Lily smiled at her husband. He looked so handsome in his tux. It was navy blue, and brought out the color in his eyes. He had a nice white dress shirt underneath the jacket, and a navy tie to match his suit. On his feel were his shiny brown dress shoes that she knew he had bought special for the wedding. He was so beautiful. Though his beauty certainly wasn't why she loved him, it was an added bonus, and made her heart beat even faster. She pushed some hair out of his eyes. It was getting slightly long again. She loved his hair longer. It reminded her of that sexy young rockstar she met all those years ago when Rufus had just formed Lincoln Hawk. She had loved photographing him then, and loved kissing him now. "May I have this dance?" She kissed him passionately before he could answer her question.

He grinned when she broke the kiss. "With a kiss like that, how can I say no?"

Lily grinned in return as he took her hand, and led her out to the makeshift dance floor, which was where the couch and television used to be, but were currently moved to the master bedroom.

"You know," he said, his lips against her left ear as they slowly swayed back and forth to Howie Day's "Collide," "I'm the one who was supposed to do the inviting to dance thing."

She smirked. "Why? Because you're the man, and I'm the woman?"

"More like, you're the bride, and I'm the groom," he answered.

"Well, I think we can get away with the bride asking instead," Lily stated. She brushed her lips against his right ear. "But just this once."

He laughed. "Okay."

They smiled at each other, then kissed. Then, still holding each other, they continued to dance, holding each other as close as they could, and both enjoying being husband and wife, for good this time.

After their dance, it was time to cut the cake. It wasn't a regular wedding cake. It was just a sheet cake, actually. But, it was chocolate with white frosting, and was decorated just as nicely as a regular wedding cake would be, complete with a little plastic blonde bride and brunette groom on top, holding hands. Red hearts surrounded them, and the cake read, _Congratulations, Rufus and Lily/Mom and Dad!_

"This cake is the best looking cake out of all the wedding cakes I've ever had!" Lily said.

"This is her seventh, so that's quite a feat!" Rufus teased.

Lily playfully pushed him as everyone laughed at his teasing. "In all fairness, I've only had a total of five husbands. I just married two of them twice!"

"Still, seven cakes," Serena teased.

"Well, who is anyone to complain about having so much cake?" Lily joked.

"True," Serena agreed.

They all laughed.

"I almost hate to cut this. It's so pretty," Lily stated.

"Don't worry. I took plenty of pictures of it. It's safe to cut into now," Scott said. He had decided a couple years earlier that he was interested in photography. He was currently majoring in photography, and had a state of the art camera, which he had to photograph the wedding, and now, reception.

"Come on, this looks good! I wanna eat it!" Rufus said to her with a grin.

She sighed. "Oh, all right. It does look quite good."

So, together, they held the knife, and cut into the cake. They cut themselves both a slice, then held up their slices.

"I want to take a picture! Hold on. When I say go," Scott said to them.

"Okay," Rufus and Lily both agreed.

Everyone counted to three. "One, two, three!"

"Go!" Scott ordered.

They fed each other the cake at the same time, both not very original as they smashed the cake into the other's face.

Everyone laughed, clapped, and cheered.

Rufus then licked the frosting off of Lily's mouth.

Lily laughed, and the kids all complained about the grossness.

Lily then licked the frosting off of Rufus' mouth, which only made the kids complain more.

Finally, they were flat out making out, half to get the kids going, and half because they _really_ wanted each other.

"All right, all right, please stop now before we're all too sick to enjoy some cake ourselves," Jenny complained.

Rufus grinned at her. "All the more cake for Lily and I!"

"Dad!" Jenny and Dan both said in unison.

"Jinks!" Jenny said.

Rufus smiled, and shook his head. "All right, all right." He looked at Lily. "I suppose we should save something for the honeymoon."

Lily grinned. "A lot of things."

Rufus moaned, and pulled her closer.

"Yes, save it _all_ for the honeymoon, please. Now let's eat!" Eric said.

Rufus and Lily grinned at each other, then quickly kissed before they dug in for more cake, their faces now free from frosting, for neither one of them had left a spot unlicked, despite their kids' complaints.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

The reception had been wonderful, but soon, it was time for Rufus and Lily to bags had been packed the night before, and their flight was scheduled to leave for Jamaica in two hours. They wanted to leave right then to make sure that they made their flight on time.

Lily had changed out of her wedding dress, and into proper traveling apparel, and Rufus had changed into traveling clothes as well.

So, after the well wishes, hugs goodbye, and the thank yous for the gifts, they headed to leave the loft.

Everyone lined up into two rows—a row on each side of Rufus and Lily—and blew bubbles at them as they left. Bubbles had been decided instead of throwing rice since it wasn't an outdoor reception. Everyone thought it would be best that they didn't get the loft covered in rice. After all, no one wanted to volunteer to clean the rice up!

Once outside of the loft, Rufus and Lily grinned at each other, and kissed. Then, they took their kissing into the lift, and kissed all the way down to the lobby. They didn't stop kissing even when the doors opened. They stopped kissing just in time for Rufus to stop the doors from closing on them again.

They laughed happily as they held hands, and left the elevator, rolling their suitcases long with their free hands.

They thanked the doorman, who wished them congratulations on their marriage, and once outside, they hailed a cab, and headed to the airport.

Two hours later, they were sitting on their plane, waiting to take off.

"Wouldn't it be funny if the plane crashed just as we're finally married for good this time?" Rufus asked.

Lily clung tightly to the seat handles. "Rufus, don't even start!"

Rufus laughed. "You're not afraid of flying, Lil."

Lily shook her head. "Not usually, but when you start talking about plane crashes, I can't help but get nervous." She looked him in the eyes. "And, for the record, I would not find it a single bit funny if that were to happen!"

"Of course you wouldn't find it funny, you'd be dead! You wouldn't be able to find _anything_ funny!" Rufus joked.

Lily gave him a look to kill. "Rufus, you are not starting our marriage off on a good note."

Rufus grinned. He took Lily's hand in his own, and kissed it. "Oh, Lily, I'm just teasing you. You know flying is the safest way to fly!"

Lily nodded. "Maybe so, but it's also the method of transportation where you're least likely to survive if you get into a crash."

Rufus rolled his eyes, and shook his head, but grinned nonetheless. He kissed her hand again. "We're going to be fine. God wouldn't have been brought us back together only to tear us apart. At least not so tragically."

Lily sighed. "Yeah, well, I hope not."

Rufus kissed her. "What do you say, once the plane is in the air, we rejoin the mile-high club?" He wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Lily couldn't help but grin at this. "Oh, Rufus, we haven't done that since I was still taking pictures of Lincoln Hawk on tour. That was what, twenty years ago?"

"Which means that we are long overdue for another meeting," Rufus said with a mischievous grin.

Lily blushed. "That wouldn't be very proper. I have a reputation to uphold now, you know."

"Who's going to know?" Rufus asked. "Besides, the Lily I met and fall in love with certainly did not care about being proper," Rufus reminded her.

"Yeah well, when you met me, I was a lot younger. We both were," Lily reminded him in turn.

"So? You're never too old to make love with the one you love," Rufus said, gently massaging Lily's thigh.

Lily smirked, and placed her hand overtop of his hand. She placed his hand back on his armrest. "But you _can_ be too old for the mile-high club."

Rufus sighed. "You're no fun."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "You won't be saying that once were in the privacy of our hotel room. I can assure you that."

Rufus moaned. "I have no doubt about that!"

The stewardess' voice came over the intercom then, to prepare them for takeoff.

Soon, they were jetting down the runway, and very shortly after, soaring up toward the sky, then finally sailing through the clouds.

Once their fasten seatbelt signs were off, the stewardesses came along with their drinks and snacks.

Rufus and Lily enjoyed their drinks and snacks, and then Lily put on her reading glasses, and opened a magazine.

"You know, you look incredibly sexy in those glasses," Rufus informed her.

Lily smirked at him. "Thank you." She then went back to reading her magazine.

"You know, you could do the mature, and grown-up thing and continue reading that magazine," Rufus began. He then ran his hands slowly up and down her thigh, then brushed his lips against her left ear as he lowered his voice and said in a soft, seductive tone that only she could hear, "Or, you can throw caution to the wind, act like you're twenty-two again, and have fun by coming to the bathroom with me for another mile-high club meeting."

Lily glanced at him.

"I promise you," he said, his lips still against her ear, and his tone still low and seductive, "it will only be a preview of tonight, but it will be the best preview you've ever seen, or should I say..._felt_."

Rufus could tell by the look on his wife's face that his persuading had worked. His suspicions were confirmed when Lily moaned.

Lily looked over him and up and down the aisle. Then, with a sigh, she set her magazine down. "Let's make this quick. I'll go first. You can come to the bathroom after me. If people suspect anything, they can stare at you—not me."

Rufus grinned; pleased with himself for having convinced her. "Anything you want, my Love!" He lowered his voice again. "And I do mean anything."

Lily moaned again, then quickly slipped over him, and down the aisle to the bathroom. She didn't even look back at him. Rufus knew, she just didn't want to be caught.

He grinned to himself, then, after a minute of waiting, he headed down the aisle after her. He could hardly wait for this! It had been far too long.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

They finally arrived in Jamaica. Their rejoining the mile-high club had been amazing. Lily was so glad Rufus had talked her into it. It was thrilling and exciting, and, when they walked out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, she was sure everyone knew that they had been doing even though she didn't see anyone staring at them. It had made her blush all the way back to her seat, but it had been more than worth it to her. It also had made her feel young again. She made a mental note to do more exciting things with Rufus like old times. After all, who said old times had to be dead?

"This place is so beautiful!" Lily said as she looked out of their hotel balcony at the palm trees, pool, and beach. Their hotel was on a beach, but the hotel still had a pool, which meant the pool was literally on the beach.

Rufus came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I know it's not the city like you love, but the beach is just as nice. Isn't it?"

Lily turned her head to smile at him. "It's perfect, Rufus! Besides, everyone needs a break from the city once in a while, no matter how much you love it. I'm actually really glad you picked here. I thought you'd pick somewhere like Italy, or Paris." When they were deciding where to go for their honeymoon, Lily could honestly not make up her mind, so she had told Rufus to pick, and surprise her. He hadn't told her until the day before their wedding when she had to know how to pack where they were going. She had been extremely happy with his choice.

"I wanted it to be special for you, and you've been to both Italy and Paris plenty of times. I wanted something different that we could remember for years to come. I thought this would be nice and relaxing, not to mention stress free," Rufus explained.

Lily moaned. "Stress free is something we both can definitely use."

Rufus nodded. "Exactly!"

"So, shall we get dressed into our swimsuits and go hit the beach?" Lily asked, turning around fully to face her husband now.

Rufus nodded halfheartedly. "We could." He grinned. "Or, we could do something else that really helps keep things stress free." He wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Lily laughed, and gently pushed him. "I want to go swimming on the beach first! Come on. Please?" She batted her eyelashes at him in a way that she hadn't done since Lincoln Hawk days.

Rufus moaned. "You know I still can't say no to you when you bat your eyelashes. That hasn't changed."

Lily grinned. "I know. Why do you think I did it?"

"You better have one heck of a swimsuit for this trip," he grumbled.

Lily went into her bag, and took out her suit, which she promptly held to her chest so that he couldn't see it. "Don't worry." She smiled at him. "You'll be very happy with it, I'm sure." She then headed off to the bathroom, smiling at his moan of hunger for her.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"Are you ever going to show me your swimsuit?" Rufus grumbled as they found a nice spot on the sand, and claimed their steak by placing their towels on side-by-side beach lounge chairs.

Lily smirked. "What? You don't like my swimsuit cover up?"

"I stopped liking it at the word 'coverup,'" Rufus said with a pout.

Again, Lily smirked. She kicked off her sandals, then stripped off her multicolored Missoni caftan coverup.

Rufus licked his lips when Lily's black one-piece was revealed. He was a bit disappointed that it wasn't a bikini, but since it was extremely low-cut, he didn't mind as much as he would have otherwise.

"So, what do you think?" Lily asked. "I bought it especially for Jamaica."

Rufus licked his lips again. "I love it! Nice choice picking out a low-cut one."

Lily grinned. "I had a feeling you'd like that part of it! I like your trunks too, but I really wish you'd have worn one of those Speedos." She grinned.

Rufus blushed. "I'd die of embarrassment."

Lily laughed. "Why? You'd be sexy in one!"

"I don't think so," Rufus said, shaking his head.

"You're so modest." Lily kissed his cheek. "That's one of the things I love the most about you." His suit, though it wasn't a Speedo, was still pleasing to her. They were surfer-style shorts that were half blue, and half black. They went to right above his knees. They laced up the front with a black lace and blue eyelets.

"I still don't know what a woman like you sees in a man like me," he said.

Lily brushed some hair out of her husband's eyes. "You're incredibly handsome and sexy, you have a good heart, you're an amazing father, and the best husband I could ever ask for." She kissed him softly on the lips, then broke the kiss, and smiled at him. "Good enough reasons?"

His eyes lowered, and he licked his lips. "How about we discuss it more back in our hotel room? Preferably on the bed?"

Lily grinned. "We didn't even swim yet! I didn't spend all the money on a designer swimsuit for nothing!"

Rufus sighed. "All right, all right. Let's go swim."

Lily kissed him, then ran off into the water.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called after her with a laugh as he ran to catch up with her.

She got to the water first, and immediately swam out into the deeper end.

When he finally caught up to her, he was out of breath. "How do you do that?" he asked her as he lightly treaded the water.

She smirked. "Do what?"

"Well, for starters, you ran like the wind to get into the water. Then, you swam out into the deeper end just as quickly. Now, you're not even gasping for breath!" he explained.

Lily smiled. "It's called working out. You can easily do it if you're in shape."

"Well, working out is something I'm definitely not familiar with," Rufus said.

"Well, we'll have to fix that! With all those waffles you eat, you need to work out to take care of this." Lily playfully pat Rufus' slightly less than flat stomach.

Rufus pouted. "Thanks a lot, Lil."

Lily shrugged. "Hey, I was only thinking that the more in shape you are..." She paused to brush her lips against his right ear. "The longer you can last in certain physical activities. And, no, I don't mean swimming."

Rufus moaned. "We can go to the gym together when we get back to New York."

Lily grinned. "I'm gonna hold you to that!" She winked at him, then swam off.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Rufus called after her.

"Try to catch up with me! It will be a good start until we get to the gym!" she called back.

Rufus sighed. "Only for you, Lil! Only for you." He then quickly swam after her, already feeling the burn.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"You gave me quite the workout!" Rufus said to Lily, out of breath as they got back to the sand, and lay down on their beach lounge chairs.

Lily smirked. "And to think, we aren't even in the bedroom yet!"

"And you did it with us both fully clothed. "Man, you're good!" Rufus joked.

They laughed together.

They relaxed on their chairs for a bit then, not really talking, but just enjoying the sounds of the ocean. Lily read a magazine, and Rufus relaxed, just glad to get a moment of rest, and to not have to strain his muscles powering through the water. Some of it had been fun though. Like when they had held hands, and jumped the waves together. They had both laughed, and had such a good time.

After about twenty minutes, Rufus' stomach began to grumble. He looked over at Lily. "Do you want to eat now?" He nodded behind them. "There's an outdoor restaurant down that way, right on the beach."

Lily set down her magazine. "That sounds delightful! The reception food has finally worn off. I'm hungry again."

"Me too. Let's go!" Rufus said.

So, they got up, gathered their things, and headed to the restaurant on the beach.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

After a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert, which they both enjoyed as they talked excitedly about their future together, they went back to relax in their beach lounge chairs for just a bit longer. They then ended up playing in the sand like little kids. Lily made a huge heart in the sand, and Rufus rote in the middle of it, _R + L = Forever_.

Lily took a picture of it, so she'd always have it to remember. Then, Rufus asked someone to take a picture of them both by the heart. He found a nice lady who was more than happy to take the picture of them by their heart. The lady couldn't help raving over what a beautiful couple they were, and how cute the heart they made was. She was ecstatic when she heard they were newlyweds, even though she didn't know them. She wished them congratulations not once, but three times before they kindly bid her farewell.

"Well, that was a nice lady," Lily said as she and Rufus headed back toward their hotel room.

Rufus nodded. "Yeah, she was."

Lily stopped by the pool, and tossed her stuff onto a pool lounge chair.

"Why are you stopping here?" he asked her.

"I want to wash the sand off my body, then go for a swim in the pool," Lily responded.

"But we just went for a swim in the ocean!" Rufus complained.

"I know, but this pool looks so inviting!" Lily said. She walked over to the outdoor shower, and turned the water on. She closed her eyes, and faced the water, letting the water wash the sand off the front of her.

Rufus sighed. "I don't want to swim. I want to take you back to our hotel room, and make love to my wife," he said just loud enough for Lily to be able to hear him over the water.

Lily opened her eyes, and smiled at him. "Soon, I promise."

Rufus sighed, then turned on the shower beside her, and let the water wash the sand off him as well.

Lily blew him a kiss, then turned around, letting the water rid her of the sand on the back of her.

After five minutes of rinsing all the sand off, they both turned the water off, sand free.

Lily then grinned at Rufus, and slipped into the water. She rested her hands over the edge of the pool. "Are you coming in?"

Rufus sighed. "I guess I will. But only since _you're_ in there." He slipped into the pool.

Lily grinned, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

He grinned when she broke the kiss. "What was _that_ for?"

"For joining me in the pool even though you'd rather be joining me in the bedroom," she said with a grin.

He smiled, then kissed her sweetly on the lips. "You're welcome! Besides, I know you'll make it up to me later. Right?" He wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Lily shook her head and smiled, playfully pushing him. "We'll see. If you're good!"

"Oh, I'll be good, I assure you!" He licked his lips hungrily.

Lily smirked, and shook her head, catching his double meaning.

She then swam off, kicking water in his face.

He gasped, and swam after her. When he caught up to her, he splashed her in return.

"Hey! That is not being good!" she laughed.

He shrugged. "Hey, you started it!"

Her mouth dropped open, then she smirked, and shook her head at him again. Then, she got a mischievous glint in her eyes as she splashed him.

He gasped, and she squealed, trying to swim away, but not before Rufus splashed her good.

This continued on for five minutes before they splashed each other at the same time, then decided to call a truce.

They swam a bit then, behaving, and enjoying each other's company.

Lily then wanted to relax on her pool lounge chair on the deck.

"I'll go get us some drinks. What should I get us?" Rufus asked her.

Lily smiled up at him. "Something tropical in the spirit of Jamaica. How about a piña colada?"

"Coming right up!" Rufus said. He then ran off to the poolside bar to get their drinks.

Lily meanwhile, took out her book, and began to read.

"Is that book any good?" came a voice moments later.

Lily looked up to see a good-looking guy who looked to be fifteen years her junior. His hair was dark brown and closely cropped except for the waves on top. He wore a pair of board shorts with a beach scene on them.

She smiled. "It's all right. I just started it though, so it's a little early to tell." She winked at him.

He down on Rufus' currently unoccupied poolside lounge chair.

"So, you like to read, huh?" he asked her.

Lily shut her book, and smiled. "Why yes, I do. I love to read when I get the time."

"So you're not only beautiful, but you're also a book reader, which leads me to believe that you're intelligent as well. Beautiful _and_ intelligent?" He made a whistling sound, and shook his head. "Wow! You're a dream!"

Lily laughed. "Why, thank you."

"I'm Jamie, by the way," he said with a wink. He extended his hand to her.

Lily smiled, and extended her hand to him in return. "Hello. I'm Lily."

He kissed her hand. "Please, Lily, tell me you're single!"

"She could, but she'd be lying. She is married to me—happily," Rufus said, appearing, his and Lily's drinks in his hands. It looked like he had a strawberry daiquiri for himself.

The guy blushed. He stood up, and held his hands up in defense. "Woah. Sorry, Man. I didn't know."

"Well, now you do!" Rufus said with the most fake smile Lily had ever seen. His tone was fake friendly.

"I wouldn't have hit on her, had I known she was married," Jamie stated.

"Yeah, well, next time, look for the ring," Rufus said.

Jamie took off without another word.

Rufus sat down in his now unoccupied poolside lounge chair beside Lily. "I leave you alone for five minutes, and you already have a guy hitting on you?"

Lily laughed, and took her drink. "Thank you for the drink." She leaned over and gave Rufus' cheek a quick peck before taking a sip of her piña colada. "Mm, good." She then turned serious. "Seriously, Rufus, he came up to me, and started hitting on me. I was just being polite. I would have told him I was happily married had you not told him before I could."

"Who does he think he is anyway? He's like what, fifteen years younger than you?" Rufus asked. "You're way out of his league." He took a long swig of his strawberry daiquiri.

Lily looked at him, a hand over her hip. "Now why is it that men can hit on women young enough to be their daughters, and even date them and no one says a thing, but if it's the woman who is older, then everyone has a cow even if it's the same age difference? Double standards, I tell you!"

"Well, girls mature faster than guys," Rufus defended.

Lily shook her head. "It's not a matter of gender when it comes to maturity. It's just a myth that it is. I know of a lot of mature men that mature early even as a kid. I also know of a lot of immature girls and women. It's only about the person, not the gender."

"Well, regardless, I don't like men hitting on you. Though I trust you, and know it's going to happen since you're an incredibly beautiful woman, it doesn't mean I have to like it!" Rufus grumbled, slurping down his drink again.

"You're going to give yourself a brain freeze. Don't drink it so fast!" Lily then smiled. "And, I have to admit, it feels good, you getting so jealous."

Rufus grinned at her. "I get insanely jealous when a guy even just _looks_ at you. Hitting on you or not!"

Lily gave him a look that was half amused, half serious. "Don't take it too far now. I like a _healthy_ amount of jealousy, and only a healthy amount."

Rufus nodded. "Duly noted."

They grinned eat each other, then went back to enjoying their drinks...slowly, and relaxing poolside.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

"All right!" Lily said, setting her now empty drink glass down on the table beside her. "Let's head in for the night."

Rufus smiled at her. "Really?"

Lily smiled back at him, and nodded. "Really."

Rufus grinned, then downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. There wasn't much left, so it didn't give him brain freeze. He set the glass back down on the table beside him, then got up, and extended his hand to Lily. "Let's go then, shall we?"

Lily giggled. "Ever the eager one, aren't we?"

"Hey, cut me a break! I've been waiting all day!" he said.

She grinned, grabbed her bag, and then his hand with her free hand. "Let's go."

So, they headed back into the hotel, and back into their hotel room.

"Bathroom break! I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere!" Rufus said to her.

Lily laughed. "Where would I go?"

Rufus stuck his tongue out at her, then headed into the bathroom.

Lily took her turn when he was out of the bathroom. She wanted to dry her hair, reapply her makeup, and of course dress into something a little more fitted for the honeymoon night.

It took her a good fifteen minutes. She was surprised Rufus hadn't complained about the time she took.

When she finally got out of the bathroom, she saw why. Rufus had been busy.

The whole room was lit with candles, and red rose petals were strewn all over the place. There was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of Champaign in an ice bucket, and soft music playing from his docked ipod. He had it low, so she hadn't heard it in the bathroom.

Rufus was lying on the bed with nothing but a small pair of black silk boxers. Which was kind of funny, because they went with her black silk nightie. Her nightie had lace over the breasts, and went to the top of her thighs. She had black silk bikini style underwear on underneath, black stockings with lace on top, and black guarders to hold the stockings up. She was wearing her black Christian Louboutin pumps.

"Wow," she breathed.

Rufus licked his lips when he saw her. "My sentiments exactly! Wow."

"How did you do all this so fast?" Lily asked.

"Well, as for the strawberries and Champaign, I had housekeeping deliver them while we were gone, but hide them in the fridge so that you wouldn't see. As for the rest of the stuff, I had it in my bag. All I had to do was set it up! Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding me? I love it, Rufus!" Lily said.

"And what do you think of my attire?" Rufus motioned down to his shorts. "I got them specially for our honeymoon."

"I love them, but they'd look better off of you. Do you like _my_ attire? I also bought it special for our honeymoon," she purred.

He grinned. "I love it, but, like you said, it would look much better off of you."

Lily grinned. "Your wish is my command." She kicked off her pumps, then undid the guarders, and slid off her stockings, letting them fall to the floor with the guarders and pumps. She then looked up at Rufus, batting her long lashes at him. "Do you want to take the rest off?"

Rufus licked his lips and nodded. "Yes, please!"

Lily grinned, then climbed onto bed with him, straddling Rufus.

Rufus moaned, and slowly ran his hands up her thighs, starting from the bottom, and working his way up.

He kissed her neck, and slid down her black underwear. He slipped them off her legs, and tossed them to the floor. Next to go was her teddy. He slid the straps off her shoulders, and kissed her shoulders as the straps left them. Then, he slid it down off her torso. He lay her down on her back, and kissed her breasts as he slid the nightie the rest of the way off her body. He tossed the nightie to the floor, then ran his hands slowly down her body from top to bottom. "Yes, even more beautiful and sexy without it on," he confirmed.

She smiled. "Now it's your turn," she whispered. She ran her hands down his chest, then slowly slid off his boxers. She let them drop to the floor with her own discarded clothes.

She then kissed up his stomach, and over his pecs, then up his neck until her lips finally met with his.

"That's why I made you wait so long today when I said I wanted to go to the beach and the pool. I knew that if I made you wait long enough, you'd want it even more when I finally let you have me," Lily explained.

Rufus kissed her softly on the lips, then brushed some hair out of her eyes. "I always want you, Lil. It doesn't matter if I have to wait or not!"

Lily smiled. "I love you so much!"

His eyes lowered with love for her. "And I love you just as much, if not more."

They kissed some more.

Lily kissed his ear. "Do you mind if we wait on the chocolate covered strawberries and Champaign? I'm kind of in the mood to do something else right now."

"What chocolate covered strawberries and Champaign?" Rufus asked with a moan.

Lily moaned too. "Good answer!

Rufus then clicked the lights off.

Lily moaned as her husband made love to her. Apparently, he had no more use for foreplay.

Their lovemaking was more perfect than it had ever been before because they knew that this time, nothing was ever going to tear them apart.

"I love you," Lily whispered into his ear.

"And I love you," he whispered in her ear.

Lily knew he meant it, just as she had meant it when she said it to him, and that made things even more perfect than they already were.

They made love for quite a while, neither one wanting to ever let the other go. However, eventually, they stopped, for their busy day was finally taking a tole on them. Making love had been wonderful though, they had both agreed.

Lily fed Rufus a chocolate covered strawberry. "Good?" she asked.

He licked his lips. "Delicious! But I'm sure it would taste much better on your lips."

Lily grinned. "Feed me one, and let's find out."

Rufus did as told, then they kissed, both licking their lips when they finished.

"Mm, yes, definitely better on your lips," Rufus confirmed.

"And better on yours," Lily confirmed.

They split the rest of the strawberries, kissing each other's lips after each berry. They also enjoyed two glasses each of Champaign.

"You got a little chocolate on your lip," Lily said. She then slowly licked it off before Rufus could respond.

This of course turned into them kissing, but eventually, they were almost too tired to even move.

They cuddled in each other's arms.

"I love you, Lil" Rufus said to her. "I'm so glad I'm your husband again. This time for good."

Lily smiled up at him. "I love you too, Rufus. And I'm so glad I'm your wife again for good."

They kissed sweetly on the lips, then relaxed together with Lily lying her head on Rufus' chest, and Rufus with his arms protectively around her.

"Goodnight, Lil," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Mm, goodnight, my Darling," Lily said, taking his hand and kissing the back of it, before dropping it back into place over her.

It didn't take long for sleep to find them that night. They slept happily, Lily in Rufus' heart and dreams, and Rufus in Lily's heart and dreams. It was a perfect night. In fact, it was the best night either of them had ever had.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

The next three days had gone by so soon. They had had a wonderful time exploring Jamaica, enjoying the beach and pool some more, and of course enjoying spending some time alone in their hotel room...the bed in particular. Though, they had also had fun in their shower.

They were sad to say goodbye to Jamaica, but they knew it certainly wouldn't be the last vacation they'd be taking together. It was a big world, and they had the money to see whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Besides, they had each other, and to them, that was all that mattered whether it be in some exotic place, or right in NYC.

Their flight had been pleasant. It was a safe and smooth ride. They hadn't had another mile-high club meeting, but it was okay with them. They just enjoyed talking to each other about their trip, and what kind of house they wanted to look into buying. They were thinking of maybe moving to Staten Island. Manhattan wasn't even an hour away from it, so it wasn't that big of a commute. It was perfect for them, they figured. Not too upperclass for Rufus, and not too lower class for Lily.

They also enjoyed watching _When Harry Met Sally_, which was playing on the plane. They had held hands during it, feeling their own love for each other.

When they arrived back in NYC, they gathered up their belongings, grabbed their bags from the luggage carousel, then headed outside, where they caught a cab back to Rufus' loft.

"So begins our new life together," Lily said with a smile as she looked out the window. Normally, she wasn't too fond of the loft, but now that she was back with Rufus, planning their new life together, it just seemed like the perfect, most beautiful place to be. That is, until they got their own place in Staten Island of course.

Rufus wrapped his arms around Lily from behind, and kissed the back of her neck as he looked out the window with her. "And I know that our future will be just like us: flawed and fragmented, and full of more love than I ever thought possible."

Lily turned around, and smiled at him. "You remembered my vows to you from our first wedding!"

Rufus nodded. "How could I forget a single thing from one of the happiest days of my life?"

"Oh, Rufus!" Lily pulled her husband close, and kissed him passionately. She had a keeper. He was absolutely her soulmate without a doubt. And this time, their marriage was most definitely for keeps.

Rufus hungrily kissed his wife back, then picked her up, and continued to kiss her as he carried her to the bedroom. He loved her more than his own life, and this time, no matter what, he was never again going to let her let him go.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

_One year later..._

"Mm, this is even better a year later! I'm so glad Serena thought to save a piece of our wedding cake and freeze it for us to have on our first anniversary of being married," Lily said, licking the frosting off her lips from the piece of cake that Rufus had just fed her.

Rufus licked his own lips, for Lily had fed him a piece at the same time he had fed her. "Mm, yeah, it was a great idea! I heard of couples doing that before, but for some reason, I hadn't thought to do it for us."

"I have such a thoughtful daughter," Lily said

Rufus nodded. "And I have such a thoughtful stepdaughter." He grinned.

They then ate the rest of the slice they were splitting in silence.

When they finished, they both sighed.

"Well, that is the last of our wedding cake. I kind of wish we had saved it so that we'd always have a slice of our wedding cake," Lily said sadly.

Rufus smirked. "I think it might get kind of gross after so many years. How about this: We get a new cake each year of our marriage, and eat a slice of the previous year's cake the following year?"

Lily grinned. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

"So, what do you say, we go get dinner, stop by the bakery, pick up a cake, and then come home and relax by the fireplace, cuddled together on the couch, enjoying our cake, but saving some for next year of course, while we watch _When Harry Met Sally_?" Rufus asked.

Lily grinned even bigger. "The movie the plane played on our way back from our honeymoon?"

Rufus nodded. "That's the one! I figured that maybe we could make that a new tradition as well for our anniversary. What do you think?"

Lily responded by pulling him close, and kissing him hard and passionate.

"So, is that a yes?" Rufus asked with a grin of his own.

Lily nodded and grinned, and then they kissed some more.

Then, they slipped on their shoes, put on their jackets, and headed out of their new and beautiful Staten Island home that they had lived in for just under a year so far.

"You do realize, it's going to be a lifetime of cake and _Harry Met Sally_, don't you?" Lily asked as they got into Rufus' blue Mercedes Benz.

"As long as it's with you as my wife, which it will be, I can't think of a more perfect life!" Rufus looked over at Lily in the passenger side. "Can you?"

Lily smiled over at him in the driver's side. "Not at all!"

Rufus grinned. "I love you more with every breath, Lil."

Lily grinned as well, and blew him a kiss. "And I love _you_ more with every breath, Rufus!"

They quickly leaned into each other, and kissed on the lips, then with smiles on their faces, Rufus pulled out of their driveway, speeding them off to their favorite restaurant for dinner.

They were both happier than they'd ever been now that they were married for good. And they knew that that was never going to change, and that their love was the real thing, and not just a drive by.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

_The End_

**_Author's Note: I want to thank you all so much for all your reviews. I read them all, and they mean so much to me! Thank you for reading my stories, and commenting. I appreciate it all more than you know. I also appreciate you guys, like ah-lot. ;) I was thinking about starting my own "Rufus and Lily" show (as in continuing where they leave off on _Gossip Girl_, and have weekly updates just like _Gossip Girl_ was on once a week. Would you guys be interested in that? Would you read and review if I did? That way, I can keep them alive! :) Well, anyway, let me know what you think. I'm kind of sad that this is my last story before _Gossip Girl_ is officially gone from our screens. It has been a lot of years, and it will be missed. :(_**

_**Well, thanks again, and remember to let me know what you think of both this chapter and my idea! I love you guys. Thanks for reading. **_

_**Xoxo, Rufly Girl**_


End file.
